Surviving Fate
by an addict
Summary: Last Chapter added! Jude and Tommy never met. Then the plane they were on crashed, leaving them as the only survivors... Full summary inside. Please R&R!
1. Crash and Burn

**Summary** - Jude's 16; she just won the Instant Star Competition, which was a lot more complicated than it was on the show - it was a worldwide competition. The last episode took place in Europe; Jude won, duh, and she's on her way home now after signing contracts to make an album with G Major. She hasn't met Tommy yet, but he was also in Europe. She knows about his days with BoyzAttack, but isn't a fan. Now her plane's about to crash, and obviously she can't die, cause the story revolves around her. Instead, she and Tommy are the only survivors, stranded God-knows-where. There obviously a few more complicated twists. This story will probably be about 10 chapters.

**Author's Note** - This is my first IS fanfic, which is ironic, because well, it wasn't written as an IS fic. I'm mostly changing names here and there, and a couple situations, which means they may be a little out of character. But it also means everything's already written. So with constructive criticism I'll be able to fix the characters more to your liking, and you'll get updates quicker

**Disclaimer** - I own absolutely nothing.

**Chapter 1** - Crash and Burn

Jude sought out the seat matching the number on her ticket, and sat down on of the over sized, plush chairs that made up the first-class section on American Airlines. She watched as the rest of the members boarded. First class was surprisingly empty, except for the old, balding man already sleeping across the isle from her, and a couple guysa little older than heron the other side of the plane. She stared silently out the window while the stewardesses made their way around to assist the passengers as the plane took off smoothly. She had never liked flying, but it was apparently going to be something she had to get used to. And first-class wasn't so bad; she was used to being seated next to middle aged smelly guys back in coach, but now she was on her way back home after signing a contract with a major recording company, G Major, and the flight couldn't possibly be going any slower. She had waited all her life for this, and couldn't grasp the fact that it was finally happening. She won the first Instant Star contest. The final episode had been held in Europe; the competition had been worldwide, and she yet, she won. They liked her originality. She wasn't only a singer, but a musician, and now she got to go back home to Canada and record a record with her very own producer - who she had yet to meet.

She was knocked out of her thoughts by a loud whooping noise from the other side of the plane, and realized it was the guys who were making all the noise. The one by the window seemed to be their ring-leader, and was definitely the best looking. Unfortunately he seemed to be aware of that, and the whooping was coming straight from his mouth. _Talk about ignorant! _She rolled her eyes, but couldn't help continue to watch the three guys. She watched the ring leader; she recognized him from somewhere. _Oh God, that can't be... Little Tommy Q? The BoyzAttacker! _Sadie had had a crush on this guy for years; she couldn't believe she was sitting on the same plane as him! She had to admit he was good-looking, especially in person, but he seemed somewhat arrogant. His friends were cute too, but neither seemed to have his charm; they seemed like the guys who would just feed off their friends.

She finally managed to look away, and sighed deeply. She missed home so much this past week, and she couldn't wait to get back. She tried pointlessly to sleep, but gave up rather quickly; sleeping was never something that was hard for her, but even first-class couldn't make her comfortable enough to forget her nerves. She picked up the magazine that was sitting in the pouch in front of her, carelessly flipping through the pages, looking for any sort of distraction. She stopped abruptly, turning back to the last page. An article on none other than Little Tommy Q graced it. She looked back over at him, and almost as though he felt someone staring, he looked over and met her gaze, giving her a cocky smile and a wink. She rolled her eyes and looked away. _What an ego... _She focused on the scene outside her small window, before feeling a sudden jolt throughout the plane. She gripped the armrest and looked around, seeing all the stewardesses rush to take a seat, but the other first-classers didn't seem to notice. Tom and his friends were still laughing, and the old man was sleeping peacefully, letting out a few snorts every once in awhile, letting the rest of them know he was still alive.

The plane jolted again, this time gaining the attention of Tom's group. They too looked around, wondering if there was a problem. The pilot came over the loud speaker just as a few flight attendants rushed to the coach section, and Jude heard her telling everyone to stay calm, which just made her more nervous.

" Can I have everyone's attention." The pilots voice was stern and hard, but Jude could sense fear and concern with each syllable uttered.

_Oh God, please let me be ok... Oh God, Oh God, please... I'll never be judgmental or critical again.._

" We're facing minor difficulties, and are planning to land as soon as we reach an open airport. Until then, everyone keep your seatbelts fastened. In case of an emergency, the flight attendants will be coming around instructing each of you on what to do. Should the plane go down, I'll ask all parents to have your children sit underneath the seats, for the safest landing. If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask.. Thank you.."

Noise erupted from the back of the plane, and Jude fidgeted nervously with the star ring on her finger. _Should the plane go down_... Was there really a chance her plane was going to crash! _I have meetings.. I'm gonna make an album.. My mom's expecting my call.. My friends... my family.. I have a future.. I'm only 16... I can't die.. Please God... I can't die..._

" Miss?"

" Hm?" Jude said absent mindedly, looking up at the steward in front of her. He offered her a smile, and proceeded to go over all the instructions 'in case of an emergency'. She thanked him, and gripped the arms tighter, feeling the plane begin to descend and shake. She was scared now, really scared. She leaned over to reach into her carry-on, which consisted of most of her belongings. All her other luggage was stored above her; her mom had reminded her constantly of the chances of her bags getting lost, and had convinced her it was very possible, forcing her to squeeze everything into a single suitcase, and the small backpack she was now digging through. She found her cell phone, and quickly starting dialing.

She sat crying on the phone, leaving her mom and dad messages while the older man next to her, now wide awake, was praying to himself. She glanced over at Tommy Q and his buddies. Her mouth hung open as she saw them laughing, thinking this whole thing was a joke.

" Please everyone, stay calm, and go through the procedures instructed earlier. The plane is going down, and we're gonna try to make it a smooth transition, but there are no clearings in site as of yet."

With that the plane jerked again, tilting almost straight down.

" OH FUCK!" She heard one of Tom's friends scream, as the plane kept gaining more speed. She heard static over the loud speaker, and glanced out the window. The ground was coming closer and closer, the pilot obviously hadn't been able to find a clearing and they were headed for a huge clump of trees, and what looked like a lake.

She shut her eyes, so the tears had trouble falling, and held her breath as the plane came closer and closer to the ground, finally landing with a thunderous splash. She felt her body being jerked in several different directions, somehow causing her head to slam against the armrest. Everything went black as the engine of the plane burst into flames. She prayed for a miracle.


	2. Welcome to Reality

**Thanks for the reviews, here'sthe next chapter...it's stillmoving along a little slowly,but it'll pick up soon, I promise. **

**Chapter Two** - Welcome to Reality

The smell of smoke and burnt metal filled her senses and made her eyes water. She blinked a few times, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the darkness that filled the plane. Her head was pounding, and she couldn't feel her legs, which were trapped under the weight of the chair in front of her, which obviously hadn't stayed attached to the plane's floor. Jude shifted her weight, trying to get up, but her seat had her tilted backwards and strapped in. She laid back down, looking for a way to get out of her seatbelt, and finally found the release button. Steadying herself, she pushed the chair off her legs, using all the strength she had left, and managed to hold it long enough to pull her legs free. She wriggled out of her seat, trying to stand up straight on the slanted floor, but managed to trip over debris. She stayed on the floor, deciding she needed a plan of some sort. She looked around, realizing the back of the plane was flooded, and the front had been almost been completely ripped off, with bright light was shining through, leaving a trail down the isle she was now seated in. _That's my way out..._ She pushed herself up, using the wall to support her, but quickly realized that wouldn't work. She sat back down, almost ready to pass out from the pain that was coursing through her body, but then she heard something. She looked over and gasped, seeing the old man next to her crushed under his chair. His head was hanging limply from his neck, eyes wide open, and there was a trail of dried blood flowing from his slightly parted mouth.

" S..S...Sir?" she said shakily, the pain heightening with each passing minute. No reply. " Are.. Are you okay?" Nothing. She reached her hand out to search his arm for a pulse, and couldn't find one. _Oh my God..._

She turned away, realizing she had to get out of there, the faster the better. She started crawling away, but quickly realized her cell phone was her ticket out of here, and went back to get her bag. She avoided looking at the dead man next to her, but just as she had her backpack, she heard a low groan coming from behind her. She turned slowly, scared to see where the noise surfaced from, but quickly realized the man was just as she had left him.

She started crawling towards the hole in the front of the plane, and was nearly there when she heard a voice, " Ughhh, what the hell..." Her eyes got wider, she had forgotten to check if anyone else was okay. She threw her backpack out of the plane, and forgot about the pain that had taken over her entire body. She made her way over to Tom's seat, and saw his eyes were closed, but he was breathing.

" Um... hello? Sir..." even in this situation, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing she knew he was famous. She put her finger out to poke his side, but pulled back when he opened his eyes and looked at her.

" Are.. Are you okay?" she asked, her voice trembling, and he tried to nod. She looked on as he removed himself from his chair, and took the same position she had on the floor.

" Is everyone else already out?" he asked quietly, and she shook her head.

" I think... we might be the only ones still.. Still. A..."she couldn't say the word.

" Alive?" he asked, his voice breaking, and she nodded.

They stayed silent for a minute, then he turned back to his friends. " Rob..Rob, get up... come on... Joe !" she watched as he moved over to shake his friends, and stopped abruptly , shaking his head in disbelief.

The water was filling more of the plane now, and Jude quickly took notice. " We have to get out of here, or.."

" They can't stay here, they'll die!" he said, holding back tears.

" They're already DEAD!" she said sadly, crying too, but she was too scared to stay in the plane much longer. " I have to get out of here.." she started to crawl away, and was surprised to find Tommy following her, dragging something behind him. He helped her through the opening, and then paused.

" Wait!" he screamed out, and she watched as he grabbed the microphone near what would have been the entrance of the plane. She heard his voice statically throughout the plane.

" Is anyone else still alive? Anyone! Scream if you can hear this!" He waited a few seconds, looking around hopefully, but when he heard nothing he looked towards his friends, bowed his head, and jumped out of the plane, meeting Jude on the soft grass beneath them.

She collapsed on the ground, the BoyzAttacker next to her, and before she could find the strength to do anything, she passed out. Tom laid next to her, in utter disbelief, and shut his eyes, hoping to drown out reality with his dreams.


	3. Never Too Prepared

**FIrst off, thanks to everyone who left a review; I'm glad you guys like it so far. Here's the next chapter; things will start to pick up with this one, now that they're actually talking and such. So yeah, read it, love it, hate it, just let me know what you think :)**

**Chapter Three** - Never Too Prepared

" Damn it!"

Tommy opened his eyes in time to see Jude throw her phone aside, then bring out a bottle of water and a container of aspirin. She swallowed a few pills, then ran her fingers gently over her forehead, flinching when she touched a sore spot. She once again started digging in her bag, pulling out a small mirror.

" Wonderful," she muttered sarcastically when she found a large bump on her head, and a few scratches.

" Where the hell am I..." he asked, somewhat disoriented, as he sat up.

" Who knows..." she stated flatly. He looked around, taking in his surroundings for the first time. They were in a very small clearing amidst tons of trees. Straight ahead of him was a small lake, and he flinched at the site of their plane, the bottom half was underneath the water completely, and a large chunk of the front was laying next to the opening; both had black marks covering every inch of it. He looked to his right; more trees, then behind him, even more trees. To his left though, was a huge cliff, with indentations that could easily be make-shift caves.

He looked back over at Jude, who was just staring in the distance at the plane. He stared at her for awhile, before realization began to sink in, and he remembered he didn't know anything about this girl.

" Um... I..." he started, but couldn't find the right words to introduce himself without sounding stupid.

" I'm Jude..." She said, realizing right away what he was getting at, and he stuck out his hand.

" Tommy" he smiled weakly, then added, " Thanks..."

"I know," she replied with a sad smile on her lips, then laid on her back, staring at the sky. " Do you want some aspirin or anything..." she said, still looking at the clouds.

" Yeah, thanks..." she passed him the aspirin, but flinched as his mouth touched her water bottle.

" Somethin' wrong?"

" Besides the fact that we're stranded who knows where, with no food, water, or connection to the outside world? Nah, everything is just peachy."

He just stared at her, not sure what to make of a response like that.

" I'm kidding... I have this thing against sharing drinks.. I don't like germs... but it looks like I'll have to get used to 'em out here, huh?"

" Looks that way... Uh, I'm guessing your phone doesn't work..." he said, motioning to the phone beside her.

She gave him an incredulous look, and he just shrugged. " When ya get home, you should get a better model... there are plans for when you're in places like this.."

" Yeah, cause that's the first thing I'll wanna do... I'll make a 'note to self', thanks..." she retorted.

" It was just a suggestion..."

" Well, I don't suppose _your _phone is working..."

" It _would _but it's in the plane."

" Well, what a help that is..."

" Yours isn't helping either.."

" Whatever.. I'm more prepared then you are.." she said standing up. She was about to walk away when her ankle gave out, and she collapsed back down to the ground with a defeated sigh and groan.

" Are you okay?"

" Nothing I can't fix..." she said, once again going through her bag. She pulled out an ace bandage, quickly wrapping it around her ankle.

" What else you got in that bag? And where the hell can I buy one..." he said jokedly, and she just looked at him.

" Stuff, and you don't gotta curse so much. There's really no need, and its rude."

" You're kidding right? Hell isn't a curse..." she just rolled her eyes. He was right, it wasn't really a curse, but she didn't like him. He was a boybander, and she... well, she was anti-boy bands.

She started to walk away, slowly because of her ankle, and he quickly got up to follow.

" Look, I didn't mean to offend you... We're obviously gonna be seeing a lot of each other, we might as well be friends."

" Well... I guess.." she grumbled without looking at him, and kept walking towards the cliff. She stopped when she reached the side, and looked up. The cliff was at least 50 feet high, and had jagged rocks sticking out every couple of feet. It kind of resembled a rock-climbing wall, only it didn't look as fun, or safe.

She noticed a rock sticking far out of the cliff, seemingly making a cave-like shelter. She kneeled down, Tommy following her, and crawled into the cave. It was small, but big enough to fit both of them.

" Uh, this is where we're staying?" he asked hesitantly.

" Um, this is where _I'm _staying. I dunno bout you, but this seems like the only reasonable option."

" We can barely move in here..."

She shot him a look, and gritted her teeth. " Dude, its either this, or sleep outside. I know you're probably used to much more extravagant lodgings, but this is the best I can think of. I know I ain't sleepin in the rain, cause all my change of clothes.. Yeah, they're on the plane.. So take your pick..."

" No, I guess this will work for now..." he said, laying down and testing out his new place. She just rolled her eyes, and took her bag off her shoulders, dumping the contents on the sandy floor.

There was the aspirin, along with a couple band aids, some Neosporin and alcohol, and her half filled bottle of water. A few CDs fell out, along with a walkman and a digital camera. There was also a marble copybook, and what looked like a diary. She opened another compartment of her backpack, sending small bottles of shampoo and conditioner to the floor, along with bars of soap, shower gel, face wash, a toothbrush, toothpaste and razors. She reached into a small pocket, pulling out her wallet, and a small makeup bag. She dumped that out, only to prove she wasn't very girly. The small mirror, some lip gloss, chap- stick, along with multiple guitar picks, a pen and a sharpie tumbled out.

Tommy raised his eyebrow, " Got anything useful in there..?"

" Do _you_ have anything?" She asked cockily, and he just shrugged and muttered something under his breath as he grabbed the case he had been dragging.

" A guitar!" She asked in awe. "You could save one thing and you grabbed your guitar?" She didn't know whether to be impressed or disgusted.

"It's my best one."

"It's not much help out here," she reminded him and turned back to her bag. She wondered secretly if he'd let her use it.

She reached in deep, and pulled out a wrinkled long sleeved T-shirt, and shrugged when Tommy gave her a weird look.

" Is that it, or is there anything else in there?"

" I swear ta God..." she mumbled, but turned away from him. Finally, she pulled out a box of matches, a small flashlight, and an entire pack of batteries.

" Well, are ya done now?"

" Yeah, for now..." she smiled cockily, and shoved her things back in, leaving only her T shirt and the shower things out. She grabbed her stuff and headed out of the cave, leaving her backpack in the corner of the cave.

"Where are ya goin!" he screamed after her.

" If ya didn't notice, I'm filthy... I'm gonna clean up.." she said, still walking away. He caught up to her just as she was going to pull off her shirt, and she froze.

" Um, can I help you?"

" I'm just as dirty as you..."

" Okay, then go over there..." she said slowly, as if talking to a first-grader, and pointed to the opposite side of the lake, behind a bush, where they wouldn't be within each others view.

" Gonna play hard to get huh?" he said smirking, and she scrunched up her face disgustedly.

" Ugh! You have got to be joking... I'm not into pop acts... Just go..."

It took a good minute before Jude convinced him there was no way she was sharing a toothbrush, but he didn't seem to care too much. In fact, he didn't seem to be taking anything too seriously. He chuckled, but finally walked away, after stealing some other bath supplies. He couldn't believe this girl; she really wasn't into him, and that was a first.

Once she was sure he was gone, she stripped down, and stepped into the cold lake. After getting used to the water, she quickly washed herself, scrubbing away the dirt that had covered her. Every so often she came in contact with bruises that were now forming completely, but she tried to ignore the pain, and gently finished washing. She splashed her face with water, using her face wash to wipe away any dirt. She threw the bottle onto the huge rock where her stuff had been carefully place, and reached for her shampoo and conditioner. After quickly washing her hair, which had looked brown thanks to all the soot, she wrung out all the excess water, and stepped out of the water, shivering a little as the wind blew lightly against her bare skin.

She grabbed her dirty T-shirt, using it as a towel, though it barely covered her half completely. Once she was somewhat dry, she dressed into the wrinkled shirt from the bag, and her old sweats. She carried her things back to the cave, choosing to go barefoot over wetting her shoes and socks. She dumped her things next to Tom's at the entrance, and crawled in, only to find him with his back turned to her. His hair was still damp, and she realized he wasn't wearing a shirt; only his loose fitting jeans.

He heard her gasp and turned around, " That impressed?" he asked arrogantly, and she groaned.

" Oh yeah, I'm so impressed.. How'd you manage that!" she said sarcastically.

" I work out..." he answered, quickly flexing.

" Wow, just as cocky as I thought... FYI, I was surprised at the enormous gash you have across your back!"

" Oh..." he said, completely unabashed, " Is it bad?" he asked, trying to see for himself, but only succeeding in looking like a dog chasing it's tail. She shook her head, holding back a smile. If the cut didn't look so deep, this would have been highly amusing.

" Sit still! I'll take care of it..." she said, and he quickly stopped moving. She grabbed her bag, pulling out the bottle of alcohol, Neosporin, and a few band aids. " Umm...okay... lay down... this may hurt a bit..." He followed her orders, laying on his back and bracing himself.

She poured some alcohol over the cut, watching it bubble, and she could tell he was acting tough by not complaining. She leaned over, blowing lightly to ease the pain. She heard a sharp intake of breath, and smiled to herself. She could have swore she heard a low groan escape from deep in his throat, but she ignored it. She put some of the ointment on her fingers, and gently ran her fingers down his back and over the cut, smoothing the Neosporin into his skin with her soft hands. Jude couldn't help noticing how toned his back muscles were, watching them go from tense to relaxed under her gentle touch. Before now, she could've cared less about what he was thinking. This moment was a completely different story. Shrugging it off, she pressed some bandage strips over the cut and smiled, rubbing his toned shoulder and smiling. She was massaging Little Tommy Q! Sadie would die to be in my place, she thought to herself.

"Better?" she asked him, pulling her hands back to herself before she could get the chance to touch him any longer. The sight of his naked chest made her lose any grudge she was holding against him at the moment.

"Yeah, thanks." Tommy said, realizing this feisty girl had a caring side. He sat up from his spot on the ground, turning to look at her. For a minute, Jude found herself lost in those suddenly compassionate eyes, confused as to why her heartstrings were being pulled just from the sight of him.

By the time she was done doctoring him, the sun was setting and a light rain had begun to fall. She laid down next to Tommy, trying to get as comfortable as possible on the sand, which wasn't an easy task.

" Dude, move over, you're in my space..." She said pushing him farther against the wall.

" Stop pushing! I can move myself..."

" Well your elbow's jammin' into my back!" she complained, shuffling around again. " There! Don't move!" She screamed as she found the most comfortable position. They stayed as still as possible, backs turned to each other, leaving the maximum amount of space between them, which wasn't more than 3 inches.

She was having trouble sleeping, her mind was working overtime. So many thoughts were running through her head, and the few short hours she had spent here felt like a lifetime. Was she ever going to see home again? Would anyone find her? Would _Little Tommy Q _be the last person she spoke to before dying? She couldn't bare to think of those things, and shut her eyes tightly, willing herself to sleep, which didn't come for a few more hours.

Her pleasant dreams of home were quickly forgotten as flashes of dead passengers filled her mind, causing her to wake in a panic. Sweat droplets were forming on her forehead, but she was shivering from the cold. Her teeth were chattering so loudly, she was afraid she was going to wake Tom, and she clamped her mouth shut, just as she heard rustling behind her.

" Jude?" she heard his deep voice near her ear, and turned to face him.

" Ye..yeah?" she said, quietly shaking and trying desperately to control her mouth.

" You okay?" his warm breath was so close to her face and she felt even more goose bumps form on her body.

" Yeah, just a little cold..."she said, turning back around and shutting her eyes. She felt his strong arms wrap around her waist, and pull her closer. She visibly tensed up, but he ran his hands up and down her arms, trying to keep her warm, and she surprisingly eased up. She leaned into him, embracing the warmth his body was providing her with, and fell back into a deep sleep, free of nightmares.


	4. Dream Big or Not At All

**You guys are freakin awesome with the reviews, thanks sooo much! Here's the next chapter, I have the next few already done, so let me know of any discrepancies ( I so can't spell!) in this one, so I canmaybe fix the next,and I'll haveitup ASAP. **

**Chapter Four - Dream Big or Don't at All**

Tommy blinked, noticing a stream of light trailing in the mouth of their 'cave.' He tried to wipe the sleep from his eyes, but quickly discovered his arms were still wrapped tightly around Jude, who had turned his chest into a pillow. He watched for a little as she slept, not wanting to disturb her. She looked so peaceful and calm, and he'd take that over short tempered and irritated any day, but his arm was getting numb, and he figured moving slightly wouldn't bother her too much. He carefully shifted his body, letting her slide off his chest, and pulled his arm away, but just as he was about to be freed, she held on tighter, and forced her body closer into his chest. He heard her mumbling something, but couldn't make out what, and he wasn't sure if she was still asleep, or in the middle of waking up.

" Mmm, Tom.." He froze. Was she dreaming about him!

" Jude?" He whispered, leaning closer to hear her muffled words.

" Tommy, please.." her arms were wrapped around his torso, pulling him closer as she snuggled up against him. A grin of epic proportions took over his face, and he laughed to himself. _This is so wrong... _He thought to himself, but couldn't help enjoy the image she was creating for him. She was obviously fantasizing about him, and that alone was enough to make his day, but the smile on her face, and the low sultry tone she was using made her all the more desirable.

" Jude, girl, wake up..." he said, teasingly running his fingers gently across her face. He watched her eyes flutter open, and didn't bother to wipe the grin off his face. As soon as she became fully aware of her surroundings, and the position she was in, she sat up, removing herself from Tommy's embrace. She ran her fingers through her hair, untangling it, and rubbed her eyes. She glanced over at him, finally noticing his enormous, yet cocky, smile.

" What are you smiling at?" she asked groggily.

" Have a pleasant dream?" her eyes opened wider and she felt a blush start to rise in her cheeks as she recalled the dream she had. _How could I fantasize about Tom Quincy? He was... he was in a freakin' boy band, for Christ's sake!_

" Um, uh.. I don't remember what it was..."she lied quickly. _Oh God... _she crawled out of the cave, standing up and brushing sand off of her clothes. Tom came up behind her and chuckled, causing her to turn and look at him and jump in surprise at how close his face was to hers.

" Whoa! Back up there, pal..." she said, placing her hand on his chest and forcing him away from her. She pulled her hand back quickly, shocked at the feelings coursing through her from the simple contact.

" Look, we should probably uhh, find some uh, food or water, or yeah stuff.." she said, looking around.

"Stuff?" he asked, amused at how baffled her words were.

" Yeah, stuff. Look around a little, see what uhh resources we've got and all..so yeah..stuff," she said, trying to sound composed.

" Okay then, where we going?"

" We should split up... and just look around. Yeah, splitting up is good." She started to walk away, but he followed her.

" Really? I thought you'd wanna be with me..."

" Why would you think that?"

" Oh I don't know.." he said nonchalantly, and stopped walking. " Maybe cause you were moaning my name in your sleep..." his cocky smile returned, even bigger this time, and by the looks of it, she wasn't pleased.

She stopped in her tracks and turned to face him. " I was not!"

" Really... Does this ring a bell, ' Ohh, Tommy, little Tommy Q...'" he said in a horrible mock girl's voice.

Her eyes got huge, and her jaw dropped open. She tried to defend herself, but couldn't find a believable lie. " I.. No...You..." _There's no way I said Little Tommy Q... _

" Thought so," he smirked, and continued to walk. "Don't worry about it though, I'm used to girls dreaming about me... Anyway, we should go check out what's over in the direction.." he said pointing. She quickly caught up to him and put her arm on his shoulder to swing him around.

" Forget the exploring for one second. I wasn't moaning your name! Well, I was, but I- NO! You see, you just happen to have the same name as my boyfriend. And I was moaning _his _name... which, uh, coincidentally, is _your _name. So wipe the grin off your face pal," she smiled as his grin completely disappeared, and kept walking.

" Wait so, you have a boyfriend back home?" he said walking beside her.

" Uh yeah, that's what I said..." she said, then quickly changed the subject, " turn here.."

They turned and continued walking for a while in complete silence. Tommy occasionally would turn to look at her, but she seemed deep in thought, and didn't want to agitate her. As far as he knew, they were on good terms at the moment, and he didn't dare ruin it. He noticed they were walking uphill, and that the grass was thinning and turning to rock. The trees were thinning out too, and he was beginning to wonder how long they had been gone for. After a little more walking, and some climbing, they ended up in another little clearing, surrounded by more trees, but with a small stream running down the middle that seemed to appear from no where, flowing down the opposite side of the hill.

" Maybe we should follow it... it looks a lot cleaner than the lake water..." Jude suggested, and Tommy just shrugged.

They walked downhill for awhile, along side the small stream, and she noticed it was growing wider and wider. After while she began to hear a thunderous noise coming from around them. She looked around, trying to find the source of the noise, but to no avail.

" Do you hear that?" she asked, turning to him. He couldn't help but think how cute she looked when she was confused.

" You'd have to be deaf not to..." came his reply, and she noticed him smiling at her.

" Stop smiling..." she said rolling her eyes, but he noticed her tone wasn't very strong. She began looking around again, then stared up, looking defeated. She stared at the sky, or what she could see of it. The trees surrounding them created a sort of canopy, and she felt a sick feeling invade her otherwise empty stomach.

_How are people going to find us, if they can't spot us through these trees!_ She thought, making a mental note to check if the situation was the same at their camp.

" Jude! Over here!" She heard Tommy's voice, and followed it a little further down the hill, but stopped when she reached a rock wall. _What the - _

" Over here!" She turned to her right, walking next to the wall a few more feet, and ran straight into Tommy.

" What is this?" She asked, looking around. They were in some sort of tunnel, to one side was the rock wall, and to the other was the tall grassy hill. He took her hand and pulled her along. Jude continued to follow Tommy as the thundering noise got louder and louder. Finally, Tommy poked his head between a gap in the rock wall and grinned. He walked into this small cave-looking gap, pulling Jude in with him.

"Where are we going?" she yelled, trying to raise her voice over the loud noise nearby.

"What?" Tommy yelled back, not able to hear her. The sound just kept intensifying, so Jude followed Tommy in so she could get closer to him, hoping he would be able to hear him. But as soon as she pushed in between the rocks to approach him, her eyes fell on the source of the noise and Tom's attention.

The two of them were standing behind a small but loud waterfall, emptying into a clear pool of water. Jude let go of Tommy's hand to explore the little hideaway they had found; it was almost as if the fourth wall of the cave was completely made of water and it formed a little stone room. She was in awe at the beauty of this sight and had never seen anything quite like this before.

"Wow," Jude said, looking at the water and then back at Tommy again. But he wasn't looking at the waterfall... he was looking at her.

"I've never seen anything so amazing" she said, looking up at the man who was sitting next to her, enjoying their surroundings.

"...I have," he said, bringing a finger to slide it under Jude's chin and graze her cheek. She felt her cheeks grow hot under his intense stare, and she froze as he moved closer to her, bending down to her level where she was sitting.

His eyes slowly glided shut as he continued to move closer until he could touch her lips with his, feeling their mouths meld together like the pieces of a perfect puzzle. Jude let her eyes flutter closed, feeling his soft lips against hers for the first time.


	5. Better to have Friends than Boybanders

**Thanks to all your awesome reviews, here's the next part, sooner than I expected. Thanks to everyone who left a review.. and anyone else who's reading :) **

**Chapter 5 - Better to Have Friends than Boybanders**

The kiss was short, but she'd never experienced one like it before. Granted, she hadn't much to compare it with, but she didn't need experience to know it was special. That maybe _he _was something special. Who was she kidding? This was Little Tommy Q she was talking about, and he just kissed her! Did he even realize what he was doing! He had to be a good 6 years older than her, at least.

He felt her slowly pull back, and licked his lips, savoring the taste of her. His eyes fluttered open, and there was nothing he wanted more than to desperately to reattach his lips to hers.

" I'm sorry, I guess you're boyfriend wouldn't have liked that.." he whispered, his warm breath teasingly lingering on her moist lips. She pressed her forehead against his, and shut her eyes again.

" I don't have a boyfriend.." she answered quietly, expecting him to pick up where he left off, but instead she felt him move his head away, and look at her, a smirk forming on his face.

" So, does that mean you _were _dreaming about me..?" He asked teasingly, but she caught the smug tone, and immediately regretted her admission, but it was too late to take it back.

Jude looked away from Tommy, getting up from her spot on the floor. As she began to make her way for the small opening where they'd walked in, he got up and blocked her way.

"Jude, wait!" He uttered desperately. It seemed like no matter what he said, she always took offense.

Shaking her head, Jude turned around and ran the only other way out; under the waterfall. As soon as she did it, she regretted her short temper. She was now soaking wet from head to toe, with no change of clothes, but there was nothing she could do about it now.

As she waded through the thigh-deep water of the small river, Tommy ducked under the waterfall and tried to catch up to her, "Jude I didn't mean for you to get mad! I just wanted to know!"

"Do you always have to be so smug about everything?" Jude said, continuing to walk away from him. Tommy jumped forward, putting more distance between his steps and eventually he caught up to her enough to grab her arm and stop her from running away.

When she turned around, stopped by his grabbing hand wrapped tightly around her forearm, the look on her face was of pure shock. It still hadn't occurred to her how much nerve this guy had... and it hadn't occurred to him why she was always getting so mad.

"I'm sorry," he said sincerely, looking into her cold, angry eyes.

Nodding her head and looking away again, Jude said grumpily, "Well for the moment, you're forgiven." Turning, away from him as he smiled and let go of her arm, Jude continued walking down the river. She was still a bit ticked off at him, but for now she'd just have to deal with her anger.

"Do you have any idea where we're going?" Tommy asked after a few more minutes of hiking through the water.

"We're going downstream, this river will eventually empty into either the lake or the ocean," Jude answered matter-of-factly. She still wasn't back to her happy self... and being both wet and cold didn't help the situation much.

As the minutes passed, it appeared that both of them were getting a little bored. Tommy walked a little slower so he was just behind Jude. At the perfect moment, he clapped his hands in the water so a giant splash came up and drenched her even further.

She whipped around, but when she turned to look at him, Tommy was glancing around as if it wasn't him. As a mischievous grin appeared on her face, Jude splashed back, getting water in his eyes.

"Hey!" he laughed, cupping his hand in the water and sending another stream of water into her gut. Before long, the two of them were engaged in a full-fledge splashing fight. As the noise of two people laughing like little kids and water splashing all over the place filled the air, the two of them forgot their cares and just fooled around, having what turned out to be a really good time.

"I'll get you for that one!" Jude said, running at Tommy after he sent a huge wave of water over her head. She jumped on him, knocking both of them over in the river. She was straddling Tommy, with just his head sticking out of the water. Soon both of them erupted into laughter that couldn't compare to anything happy they'd done the whole time they were stuck here. For once, they were getting along.

As they finally made their way back to the camp, they emerged from the lake, completely saturated, but with wide smiles plastered on their faces. Jude walked up the beach, peeling off her shoes and socks, and threw them against the rock wall, letting them land near the cave's entrance.

" Now what?" Tommy asked as he came up behind her, neatly placing his shoes by the entrance, then fixing hers.

She raised an eyebrow at him, but couldn't help but smile.

" Oh no, someone's a neat freak..." she said, noticing the lined up shoes.

" Not a neat freak. Organized," he said smartly, and she shrugged. "Same thing.." she answered, and stuck out her tongue.

" We're gonna freeze to death tonight if we keep these wet clothes on..." she said, almost regretting their escapades in the water.

Now he raised his eyebrow, and she rolled her eyes. " You know what I mean.. We gotta dry off... Stop looking at me like that... we'll freeze without clothes too!" she said giggling, and he felt himself drawn to her smile.

" Hmm... let's see..." she muttered, looking at her surroundings. _How in the world are we gonna make it through tonight in these clothes... _" A fire!" She shouted excitedly as the idea popped into her head.

" Nice thinkin' red... we better get movin on that.. I doubt we have much sunlight left..." he glanced at the sky, and she noticed it was beginning to turn orange.

" Hey, I'm gonna be keepin you warm tonight, so I'd shut it and go get some kindling..." she said shaking her head, " and don't forget logs! And stones.. Oh heck, I'll just do it!"

They started walking towards the woods, looking for fire supplies that fit Jude's standards, which wasn't too easy. After she collected the perfect stones to make the pit, he went off to find kindling and logs.

She kneeled down in the sand, about 25 feet away from the cave entrance, digging a small hole and outlining it nicely with the stones she had found. Just as she finished, Tommy walked up, dumping a large bundle of twigs and logs beside her, then dusting off his now damp clothes. She finished setting the fire, then ran off to the cave, returning shortly after with her box of matches.

They sat down, and Jude started striking the matches, using a few at a time, but the twigs never seemed to catch in time.

" Well, looks like you'll have to keep me warm some other way.." he said teasingly, and she laughed.

" Keep dreamin', Quincy..."

" Hey, I'll leave the dreaming up to you..." she felt her cheeks get warm, but laughed it off.

" You do that... I hope your better at conjuring up those dreams than you are at picking out kindling, cause this is soo not working," she said, throwing the used matches aside, and looking up at him defeated.

" What are we gonna do?" she asked sadly, and for the first time he realized the seriousness of their situation.

" Well, for one, it's not my fault... because I actually never knew what 'kindling' was before today.. And two.. All we need is something that catches fire faster... maybe leaves..."

" Or paper!" she said smiling, and quickly jumped up.

She returned with her copybook, ripping out pages and crumbling them up, placing them underneath the sticks in her fire pit. After only two matches, the twigs began to catch the flame, and a full out bonfire quickly developed.

" Yes!" she shouted, raising her arms above her head.

" Hey, I believe I earned some of the credit..."

" Eh, you sorta helped.." she joked, scooting closer to the fire. They sat in silence, Jude gloating, and Tommy just smiling at her now happy disposition.

" Sun's goin' down..." he stated, and she laughed. " Thanks Caption Obvious..." then broke out into a song.

" Don't let the sunnn, Go down on me, yeahhhhh"

" You can sing... and you like the classics," he noticed, and she shrugged.

"And you can play guitar?" he asked, remembering the picks in her bag.

"I'm no Jimmy Hendrix..." she said, not letting anything on. He just smiled.

" How long do you think we'll be here for?" he asked quietly, and he immediately noticed a change in her expression.

" I hope not much longer..." she almost whispered, avoiding eye contact, but he didn't miss the single tear that fell down her cheek, and he knew it was probably twice as hard on her as it was on him. He wasn't even sure if he had fully accepted the situation yet. Almost as if by instinct, he moved a little closer, and cupping her face in his warm hands, brushed away the tear with his thumb. Her eyes finally met his, and he was completely mesmerized. She had the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen, even when they were glossed over by unshed tears. He pressed his forehead to hers, never breaking eye contact, and quietly promised, " Everything will be fine..."


	6. A New Nightmare

**Thanks again for all the reviews :) **

**Chapter 6** - A New Nightmare

She nodded her head, sniffling, and forced a small smile. His eyes were amazingly compassionate, and she immediately was lost in them. She couldn't help but trust his simple, yet promising words, and she surprisingly felt a little better knowing he was there with her. She stood up with her back to him, trying to wipe away her tears. His arms wrapped around her waist, and she jumped from the unexpected contact.

" Sorry," he said, stepping back as her brain momentarily was frozen for words. She felt her stomach growling and sighed.

" Hungry? " he laughed, straightening up, and she turned to face him again.

" Yeah, well... this sure is one hell of a diet..."

" Hey, thought this was a G rated camp site, missy..." he said laughing, and she gave him a sarcastic smile.

" Haha.. Funny. I'm just lookin on the bright side.. At least since there's no food around here, I won't break my dam- _darn _diet..."

" What's with chicks and diets anyway? " he asked, and she saw his obnoxious side again. " I just mean, why are girls always dieting, that's all.." he quickly corrected himself.

" Don't ask me..I'm usually anti-diets, but some people just like things a certain way..." she trailed off while twirling her bright red locks,letting him know there was more to what she was saying, but making it obvious she wasn't about to elaborate.

" You look perfect to me..." came his quiet reply, and she lowered her eyes, feeling the color rise in her cheeks.

" Tell that to my management.." she mumbled, keeping her eyes on her foot, which was now digging holes in the sand.

" Management..?"

" Yeah, that's where I was headed to.. I sorta don't wanna talk about it.." she answered quietly, making it rather clear that it was a touchy subject.

He just nodded his head, and once again wrapped her in his arms. " Okay, but you're management is making a huge mistake if they're telling you to change...take it from someone who knows."

She didn't answer, just held onto h im tighter, wanting more than ever to believe his previous words, _" Everything will be fine..."

* * *

_

_He slowly made his way through the dark aisles of the wrecked plane, feeling as though something was holding him back; it almost felt as something was warning him not to move further in, but he had to. He had to check. Most of all he needed closure. _

_He continued to pull himself along, his eyes adjusting to the darkness, but watering from the putrid smell of burnt metal mixed with mold and rotting bodies. The floor was covered with about an inch of water, with a color resembling dark blood combined with dirt. He kept his eyes forward, not as prepared to deal with death as he thought he was. He continued on, but stopped when he met his destination. Empty seats. They were gone. From out of nowhere came a loud creaking noise, and he turned, spotting nothing but more darkness. He looked down only to find mutilated body parts surfacing through the water. He could feel himself struggling to breath, but he felt almost out-of-body. Again he heard the noise, and opened his burning eyes to see them, standing zombie like at him. They stepped closer to him, revealing shredded clothing and straggly hair; their entire bodies were ash-covered. Their skin had taken on a pale, deadly color, and dried blood ran down their faces. Both sets of eyes let him see a cold, hollow soul deep with in each of them, and for a moment he was truly scared, frozen in place by their intense and deathly stares. _

" _I'm sorry..." came Tommy's strained voice, and he felt the tears pour out of his eyes. Tears of regret, hurt, sadness, pain but most of all guilt. _

_Their faces showed no signs of hearing him, and they continued their robot-like walk towards him, now with evil grins drawn on their chapped lips. Tommy managed to take a step backwards, but they were now advancing on him, slowly repeating his name. _

" _What... what are you guys doing... come on... No! Stop guys, wake up! NO! I'm sorry... I'm sorrry... God, I'm sorry..." he struggled as they placed their icy cold hands on his shoulders, and continued to shake him. But their hands slowly turned warm, and the voices they were chanting in turned soft and almost concerned. _

" _Tommy, Tommy... TOMMY!" _

She screamed his name as she shook him harder, growing more worried as he continued to repeat how sorry he was, as tears spilled down his cheeks.

" Tommy, wake up! Wake up.. It's only a dream!" she continued to shout as his eyes slowly opened, and he stared into her own tearful eyes. He looked around, and had never been so thankful to know that he was only dreaming.

" What happened ? Are you okay, you were screaming your head off in there.." her worry was apparent, and he couldn't help but be glad she seemed to care.

" Oh God... I let them die.. It was all my fault, all me.. They switched planes, I made them.. I told them to fly out with me... they - they weren't gonna, but they work for me.. I told them they could help with my newest client.. I - God Damn it, what did I do! It should have been me! " the tears were falling at a steady rate now, running down his cheeks; wiping them away did nothing to dry his face. She crawled closer to him, the tight space in their cave making it difficult, and put her finger under his chin, silently asking him to look at her.

" It's not your fault Tommy.. You didn't know.. No one knew! Don't feel bad... there's a reason you're still alive..." both her eyes and words were honest, and there was nothing he needed more at the moment. He tried to thank her, but words wouldn't come out, so he held her in a tight embrace, thanking her without words.

She was surprised at his sudden naivety, but couldn't help but be amazed at the many layers he consisted of. She held onto him just as tight before laying down. She could still hear his low sniffles, but was glad she could help him, even if it was only with a hug. She felt his warm hand slip into hers, and she turned around to see him facing her. He opened his arms, mutely inviting her into them, and she smiled as she moved over, quickly kissed him gently on the lips, and left the 'cave'.

She picked up the guitar case she had abandoned when she heard his screams. She paused, not sure if she should open it, but she couldn't go another minute without playing. She unsnapped the case and stared longingly at the Les Paul in front of her. She couldn't believe it. She had wanted one of these since she was five years old.

She picked it up, grabbing the pick she had in her pocket, and quietly strummed the beginning chords to her winning song, singing quietly.

"I've been sitting in the dirt (for 24 hours)  
I've forgotten my own worth, (for 24 hours)  
Said that you'd be here last night"

She noticed her voice was shaky, but she was trying desperately not to wake Tommy. She just wanted to play, and her voice got stronger with the next few lines.

"I'm trying to shake you from my skin (for 48 hours)  
Clean up this mess I've been put in (for 48 hours)  
I'm guessing you can't always win  
I'm guessing you can't always win.."

She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked at Tommy guiltily.

"I'm... I'm so sorry," she started.

" For waking me, or borrowing my guitar?" he asked, but she noticed he was smirking.

"Both," she replied honestly, putting his guitar sadly back in its case.

"Might as well finish the song now, girl," he smiled, sitting down next to her in front of the dim fire, and she couldn't suppress the grin on her face.

* * *

Jude woke to an empty space beside her, and shivered from the cool breeze. She yawned and stretched, noticing the now empty space next to her. She looked around, noticing the new scent entering her cave.

_This is awful. I've never been so hungry in my life... _She thought to herself, placing a hand on her grumbling stomach. _There's no way we're getting by for much longer without food_... She crawled out of the cave, making a mental note to herself. She stood up and stretched again, her eyes slowly adjusting to the bright sun.

" Mornin' sunshine," she heard Tommy's cheerful voice, and turned to find him leaning against the rock wall, holding something that resembled a bowl. She eyed him suspiciously before walking over, very curious as to what he had.

" Whatcha' got there?" she asked, leaning over to see, but he held it further away, ignoring her question and asking his own.

" Do you always sleep so long?"

" Maybe... whatcha got there? Come on, let me see..." she said tiptoeing, but he held it out of reach. She frowned and looked up at his smiling face.

" Sleep okay?"

" Yes..." she grumbled, giving up.

" Good. Are ya still hungry?"

" Yep.." she said walking away from him.

" Good."

He smiled when she stopped walking, and shot him a quizzical look. " How's that good?"

" Cause I found something..."


	7. Admissions, Realizations, Apathy

**Chapter 7** - Admissions, Realizations, Apathy

" Come on," he took her hand in his, and guided her through some trees before she stopped walking.

"What's in there?"

" Samples of...that," he replied, pointing at a bunch of shrubs.

" Leaves? I'm gunna eat leaves?" she asked confusedly and he chuckled.

" Course not, why would I walk all this way for leaves? Look!" A light chuckle escaped his mouth and brought a smile to her otherwise confused face.

" Ya wanna fill me in, pal? Cause I'm obviously missing something," she joked.

" Here..." he handed her the bark-made bowl, eliciting a shocked " Oh!" She looked back towards the shrubs, this time looking closer. Sure enough, small, ripe berries covered the bush, well hidden by its leaves.

" Tommy!" she was never so thankful or happy to see something so simple, and yet here she was, rejoicing over berries.

" And look at that one over there.." he said gesturing to a small tree, excited that she was so happy.

" What are they?" she asked, picking round objects off the tree.

" Some kind of nuts.. I can't really remember what kind, but I'm pretty sure we can eat them.."

She nodded animatedly, " Oh! Nuts that grow on trees... I learned this.. I was a girl scout for a good week and a half.. Uh.. Nuts, nuts.. Oh! Duh, Jude... Chestnuts and walnuts grow on trees!"

" Nice job, red.. You've made your troop proud.." he teased, only to have her stick her tongue out at him.

" Hey, without that troop we might not have that fire!" She laughed, continuing to pick berries and nuts, adding them to the bowl; when that was filled she used her T-shirt. After she had a sufficient amount, she turned to Tommy, all smiles, and said quietly, " Thank you."

* * *

They sat close to the fire, completely absorbed in their new-found food, and both completely content. 

"So, Jude.. Anything else I should know about you.. In addition to your girl-scouting past, and amazing voice, that is," he grinned, adding more logs to the dying fire.

" Hmm.. Nothing too interesting.. Move that over a little or we're gonna roast...what about you? You knew where to find berries and that it was safe to eat ghem.. I think Little Tommy Q's hiding something!"

"Yeah, yeah, you caught me.. I was a boy scout 'back in the day'.."

" Awww! Your fellow troopers would be so proud! Was this before or after BoyzAttack? "

" Before, and yes they would.." he laughed.

"Soo.." they both started as the laughter died down.

"How old are you?" they asked at the same time, causing more giggles.

"Sixteen..."

"Sixteen?" he asked shocked. There was no way she was only 16. He kissed a minor! Why didn't he check her age sooner?

"Yeah..." she waited for his response, not missing the look on his face. She could tell he was regretting kissing her.

"I thought you were older," he explained, and she just nodded. She didn't hear that every day.

"I'm 23," he added, but she didn't respond. She had guessed something around there.

They fell into an uncomfortable silence. Before long though, Jude sighed loudly, looking up at the sky.

" You okay?" Tommy asked cautiously.

" Yeah, I guess... I'm just bored here.. I wanna go home.." she said quietly, hoping she wouldn't cry again. He stayed quiet, just nodding, and oddly enough that gave her comfort. She looked down at her hands, playing with her fingers instead of looking up at his intent stare.

" I just... It's so frustrating, knowing that everything's going on with out you.. My friends and my family.. And management and just everyone... They're all going about their normal lives, doing their own thing, probably upset over me, but knowing they can't do anything. Thinking I'm gone, ya know? And.. And I can't help but wonder.. Do they have any hope left that I'm still alive?" she looked up with cloudy eyes, and he felt his heart being torn. So much emotion was poured into those words, and so much of it was what he was feeling.

" Jude, I... Well, I know it's not much, but I know how you're feeling, and hey.. Don't hold those tears back.. Sometimes it's better to just cry. If you're family and friends and management are half the people that you are.. You can bet they have hope left. And even if they aren't... I'm sure not a single person on this earth would give up hope on you."

She just nodded, knowing if she looked into his eyes she wouldn't have the strength to look away; she barely knew him but he already had a huge effect on her. And deep down, amidst that sense of comfort, there was fear of him.

Fear of that feeling he sent to the pit of her now-full stomach every time he looked at her. Smiled at her. Laughed. Moved. Breathed. But he was 23, and now he knew that she was just a sixteen year old kid.

" Jude? You okay in there?"

" Huh? Oh yea.. I..this whole experience has got me thinking crazy that's all.." she said shakily.

" Ya wanna find somethin to do? Get your mind off things..." he asked softly, and she nodded, slowly standing up.

" Thanks," she smiled as he helped her stand up. " Soo, what are we doing?"

" Uh, no clue... any suggestions?" he asked looking around.

" Wanna go for a walk?"

They walked in a random direction, slowly but at a steady pace, in silence. Her mind wandered as she studied everything about their surroundings. It was a beautiful place, whatever it was, and the sounds of nature gave her a quiet confidence that things would work out. Things would always work out. The clean air felt good against her hot skin, and the bright sun gave her hope for another day. A better day. A light smile danced across her lips, threatening to appear at the new appreciation she found for all that was now around her. The quiet flow of a stream let her know that they could find their way back to camp, but at the same time, assured her they were headed in the wrong direction. The thickening of the many trees around them offered a sanctuary from the heat and the quiet sounds of creatures and animals gave her the sense of security she needed to know they weren't in any immediate danger. It was peaceful here. Lonely, but peaceful.

Tommy watched her in awe as she went from one extreme to the next. He couldn't believe this girl was so young, it was almost a sin. The unshed tears that had threatened to fall just moments earlier had been replaced with a happy sparkle. Almost unknowingly, his hand reached for her smaller one, and she almost jumped in surprise.

" Sorry..." he said quietly, pulling his hand away.

She was almost upset that he disturbed the comfortable silence they had established, but at the same time, was glad to hear his voice. Every emotion she now experienced now seemed to have a conflicting one, but she wasn't worried about it. She was focused on the moment, on the good feelings, on him. Just him.

" Don't be.." Her voice was so quiet it almost went unheard. Almost. She took his hand in hers, intertwining their fingers, and smiled brightly as they continued their walk.

The slowed their pace as Jude side-stepped a log, but heard a loud SPLAT! as she hopped it.

" Ugh!" She groaned , looking down at her feet, " Mud!"

She tried to strep out of the enormous puddle, but to no avail. She only managed to get dirtier while Tommy laughed his head off watching her.

" Quit giggling pretty boy, and help me out!" She said through clenched teeth. As funny as this was, she wasn't about to laugh until she was out.

" Alright, alright, sorry.." he said suppressing his laughs.

He reached for her arm and tried pulling her, but her foot just didn't want to budge. He moved closer, making sure his own feet didn't touch the mud, and bent down to take a hold of her leg. She watched as he tugged determinedly, then saw almost as if in slow motion his own foot slip causing him to land flat in the mud. That was it for Jude. She doubled over in laughter as Tommy tried to get up. She clutched her stomach which was now aching from laughing so hard, and offered her free hand to him. He took it gratefully, ready to pull himself up, but paused. All of a sudden, Jude felt a strong pull on her arm, and came falling forward, landing next to Tommy in the mud.

" You did that on purpose!" she accused, tears falling down her cheeks from laughing hysterically. She grabbed a handful of mud, and held it up.

" Don't even..!" he challenged, but before he could even get the last word out a glob of mud landed in his hair, dripping down his forehead. He wiped the mud off his face, listening as she giggled uncontrollably.

" That does it!" he shouted, and nearly tackled her. She felt her back sink lower into the mud, but at the moment she couldn't have cared less. Little Tommy Q was having a mud fight with her. On _top _of her! He began to tickle her mercilessly, causing her to squeal and try to get free, but it wasn't worth the struggle. He was much bigger than her, and he was now almost straddling her small body. She kicked her feet and flailed her arms, but still he didn't move. She was now almost completely out of breath from laughing, and couldn't remember the last time she had this much fun. He felt her stop struggling, and smiled at his victory.

" Ah! Tommy is once again victorious!"

" I think NOT!" she screamed as he felt her small hand smash mud into his back.

"Awww! You got me.. You're a sneaky little one..." he laughed, watching her grin widely. He was completely mesmerized by her smile, and the way her eyes were sparkling with such life. He quickly snapped out of his trance though, realizing she was blushing slightly, and rushed to get off of her. He stood up, somewhat shakily, and managed to get out of the mud. She sat up, but still didn't get out of the puddle. He chuckled quietly, realizing she was stuck, and went back in to get her. He reached down, getting her into a huge bear hug and stood up with her in his arms. She wrapped her legs around his waist and grinned up at him; they were both covered head to toe in mud, but neither seemed to care at all.

They made their way back to camp, the mud drying somewhat, and both laid down in the sand near the lake. Jude stared at the sky, but stood up quickly.

" I'm gonna go clean up... this mud is kinda gross."

" Sounds like a plan..." Tommy said, standing up and following her into their cave. She grabbed her stuff and attempted to walk back out, but he was in the way. She raised her eyebrow at him, silently asking what he was doing.

" I figured I'd join ya," he grinned, giving her a suggestion glance up and down.

Jude gave him a warning glance right back, pulling her armful of things close to her in an attempt to keep his wandering eyes away, 'Yeah, right, he's gotta be kidding...' she thought before getting angered enough to say something back.

" Think again, Quincy. I hope you don't think you're gettin any..." She said rolling her eyes and pushing him over, crawling out of the cave once her way had been cleared. She walked towards the side of the lake, not realizing he was following her. He couldn't deny he had thought about it, but she was sixteen. He knew better. Didn't he?

"Did you just hear what I said or are you deaf AND shallow?" Jude allowed herself a second to answer the question, "Why am I even asking you? Get out of my way..."

" Aww, come on Jude, you can't deny you want a piece of this.." he said half jokingly; unfortunately she didn't catch the joke. She spun around, causing him to nearly collide with her.

"And are you judging that on the one kiss we had, or just the fact that you're a former member of a popular boy band?" She was pissed that she liked him; she was mad that she wanted to throw her morals out the window for him, of all people. She was mad that he was her first kiss; not because it was bad; the complete opposite. It was perfect, but she knew it wasn't real the second she admitted her age. So why was he still flirting with her? Or was he? _No, he's definitely flirting with me. But it's only because I'm the only one around, he probably can't help it... _She was mad he was 23, and out of her league, and she was taking it out on him. How did she get so angry so fast?

She changed directions, walking farther away from him and then out of sight, and left Tommy standing there, in complete awe of both her mood swings and how her hips swayed when she was angry.

Something told him to go after her... even if he was crossing a line by defying her like this, she deserved an apology and an explanation. Spending this long with her alone had taught him one thing that he often forgot... Jude was shy under her feisty exterior. Despite how pushy and loud and fun she could be, Tommy knew that she was insecure. And probably confused. For perhaps the first time since they'd gotten stuck here... Tommy understood her. And he wasn't about to let her get away.

Figuring he'd give Jude a chance to cool off, Tommy got into the lake to wash off the mud that he was completely covered with. He peeled off the clearly ruined clothes and put his head under the water, cleaning the mud out of his face and hair. A few minutes later he emerged, realizing the problem he discovered a little too late.

"Damn it... so much for having clean clothes." Tommy talked to himself, glancing around for something to cover himself with. After coming to the conclusion that maybe dirty clothes wouldn't be so bad when compared to none at all, he started to look around for his only clothes left.

"Come on!" Tommy waded around in the lake, wishing that he hadn't so carelessly tossed the clothes back in the lake. He finally found them, soaking wet, and threw them on. Something more important now returned to his mind, and he looked in the direction that Jude ran off before.

Speeding off into the forest, soaking wet and freezing, Tommy let his instincts bring him to Jude. Somehow, he knew exactly where she was going to get some privacy. His suspicions were correct when he heard quiet humming along with the loud noise of rushing water at the site of their kiss; their waterfall.

Coming to an abrupt stop where he was sure Jude couldn't see him, Tommy looked around and his eyes finally settled on her figure just a couple of yards away. Hoping that he hadn't given his hiding place away by running so loudly, Tommy poked his head out from behind the bush that hid him from the girl who was mad at him at that moment.

Right away he found himself looking at her incredibly gorgeous naked back and shoulders with the heavy stream of water cascading down her. The water that filled the small lake came up to her waist and kept most of her body covered, while the only thing stopping him from seeing her upper body was that she was facing away from him. He felt a twinge of guilt as she was unknowingly so exposed to him, especially after their fight a few minutes earlier.

Knowing that interrupting her would make their situation ten times worse, he turned around and headed back to sit at the fire, waiting impatiently for her to return, while thoughts and images of her overwhelmed his imagination.

There was no way he was sitting here, dreaming about a sixteen year old girl. _She doesn't act 16 though, _he reasoned with himself. _It doesn't matter. She's still a minor. It's still illegal. _He groaned. He'd never had a girl cause him so much turmoil before. But then again, he'd usually kept his relations legal. _It's not even a relation. This is just some stupid phase, we're stuck god knows where, for who knows how long, obviously I'm gonna be attracted to the only girl I'm with, no matter what her age. _He tried to justify the situation in his mind, but he knew it wasn't just physical. _I'm so screwed... _

He saw Jude approaching him, her clothes mirrored his own : soaking wet and clinginy to her body, something he wasn't complaining about anymore. Before she had a chance to ignore him, walk away, or completely snap, Tommy spoke.

" Jude, I'm sorry for coming off as an overconfident jerk. And I'm sorry that I made blatant passes at you when it was obvious you weren't interested..." he started, not believing that he was completely rejected by a girl for the first time in his life. Not only was it bad enough that he was totally rejected though, it was by a sixteen year old he actually was interested in, and he was the last person available to her in at least a hundred mile radius. " I really am pathetic.." he thought out loud.

"No, look. I'm sorry I snapped. My emotions are all over out here, can we just forget it?" She asked, crossing her fingers. She sighed in relief as he nodded and she sat next to him, close to the fire.

"This totally sucks," she said, her words mirroring his thoughts. But he wasn't sure if she meant the clothes situation, the fact that they were obviously attracted to each other, or the fact that they weren't acting on it. He decided a combination of all three.

They sat in comfortable silence, both freezing cold in their wet clothes. He noticed she was shivering, and he couldn't help but feel bad. He moved closer to her, and was surprised when she followed suit. She leaned against his chest and he wrapped his arms around her, trying to keep her warm.

She looked up at him, and before she knew what she was doing she said, " That was my first kiss, you know.."

He didn't know what to think; her first kiss? Was she serious? He was kissing girls since he was like eleven. Twelve, tops. He thought about his first kiss. Awkward, was all he could think, and he didn't feel that at all when Jude kissed back. She certainly didn't kiss like an amateur. He noticed she looked nervous at her admission, and shook his head.

"Can I be your second?" he asked, not waiting for her to answer. He saw the answer in her eyes, and immediately closed the space between them, meeting his lips with hers. For the second time since they'd be there, he didn't want to think about anything but her; he forgot she was sixteen, he forgot he was 23. He just wished he never had to stop, and he continued kissing her like he didn't have to.


	8. Sorries All Around

**First of all, I wanna thank you all soo much for the reviews :) Chapter 7 seemed to be a hit. Your reviews were awesome; they made my day(s).**

**Second, I'm sorry this one took so long. I've just been a little busy, buttt no more excuses. **

**Love it, hate it, as long as you read it...**

**Chapter 8** - Sorrys All Around

They sat in comfortable silence together by the fire, enjoying their newfound closeness. Closing her eyes, Jude contemplated all the things she had to figure out, everything she should be doing right now, but at the same time, she couldn't move; she loved the intimacy of their almost innocent moment.

" Tommy, I think I have an idea," she mumbled, her eyes still closed, not wanting the moment to end.

" You mean we can't stay here forever," he smiled into the crook of her neck, where he placed light kisses. _Forever._ The word had such a different meaning now. _Will we be here forever? _She wondered, _What if we are? But then again.. _

" What if we're _not_ here forever?" She asked quietly, causing him to look her straight in the eye. The wonder, confusion and most importantly the hint of fear and sadness in her tone obviously didn't go unnoticed by him.

" Then we'll just have to recreate the moment some where else, won't we?" he answered simply, but deep down, he wasn't sure. What they had here wouldn't be right somewhere else, would it?

" I guess we have no other choice," she grinned, and he kissed her quickly. " Great, now what was your other plan?"

" I'm afraid its not as tempting as yours but..."

" I don't like it already," he teased.

She rolled her eyes playfully and thought before continuing, " Obviously, we need clothes, ones that aren't wet," she thought carefully before she continued, "... When the plane um.. When we..ugh! What I'm trying to say is, I think if we can get on the plane again, and I think we could... There's a good chance we could find some suitcases, maybe supplies.. even food."

She saw the skeptical look on his face and realized she had to elaborate. "Cause we can't prance around here in wet clothes, collecting berries, staying warm by a small fire. I mean, sure we're okay now, but it's only been like a week. I'm already delusional! Look at me! No, not literally look at me !" she said, laughing lightly as her cheeks turned pink, watching his eyes happily scan her body. " I mean, look at the situation I'm in..._we're _in ! I'm sitting here in the middle of God-knows-where, with Little Tommy Q, who I met less than a week ago, and neither of us have clothes to last us the rest of the night!"

He chuckled at her frustration and asked, " Aww, what's wrong with that?"

" I'm supposed to be home, recording an album, getting my big break.. Now that damn management company probably has forgotten about me completely. Do you know how long I've been trying to get discovered? How long I've been trying to make a career out of what I love? Since I was a kid, Tommy, and it may be gone now. You know how that feels... It can't be gone.." she said emotionally, her last sentence barely audible.

"You're gonna be a singer? That'syour management?" he asked, realization hitting hard. _She couldn't be... could she?_

She froze, completely caught off guard, as an adorable confused expression took over her delicate features.

" Yeah, but that doesn't make a difference... are you up for searching the plane or what?"

" Yeah, if you think that will help, yes, but I wanna talk about this management thing later. It makes all the difference."

" Okay, okay, we'll talk about it later," she agreed, standing up.

He sulkily followed, not at all excited for their little adventure.

" Okay, let's get a move on!"

He followed her closely as she walked toward the lake where the plane was. Her t-shirt was soaked and pretty much completely see through, but he was ignoring that..

" Are you okay?" she asked, taking his hand in hers and intertwining their fingers. He smiled at the simple gesture; even the way her hand fit his so perfectly amazed him.

" Yep, great..." he replied. " Ready?"

" As I'll ever be," she answered, pulling him along. As they approached the plane Tommy began to feel nauseous, but again shrugged it off as Jude began to climb into the plane and quickly disappeared. Flashbacks of the crash and his friends bodies entered his mind and he stepped back, getting sick before he even attempted to climb in. He heard Jude calling his name, and he entered the plane before he had a chance to turn back.

Everything was completely dark, and the warm musty smell of death and rust nearly caused him to pass out. He waited for his eyes to adjust to the light before taking more steps in, finding Jude almost immediately.

" Tommy, are you sure you're okay?" She asked, genuinely concerned.

He quickly started to reassure her that he was, but a glance in the wrong direction made his head feel light, and he stumbled over, causing Jude to scream in surprise.

" Tommy!" She struggled to hold him up, lightly tapping his face and leaning his body against an overturned chair. His eyes slowly fluttered open, meeting her tearful ones.

" Wha- what happened?" he asked groggily, and Jude sighed in relief.

" God, Quincy, you scared the hell out of me! Are you okay?" she helped him to his feet, keeping his body as close to hers as possible.

" I'm just a little freaked out I think... can we just get this stuff and get outta here?"

" Yeah, you stay here, I'll find what I can..." she said, quickly turning to go.

" NO!" his voice was louder than he expected, and very much on the pleading side. " I'll come with you..."

" Are you sure?"

" Yeah..." he said, grabbing onto her arm tightly and following her through the dark plane. They trudged through cold water and debris, checking every overhead compartment, finding a few bags. Jude handed them to Tommy, poking around some more before turning back to the first class section.

" Jude.." Tommy paused before walking through the archway.

" What's wrong?"

" I can't go back in there.." he said quietly, almost ashamed.

" Tommy, we have to go back to get out. Plus, all my luggage is in there... come on, we'll be fine."

" I can't see them! I can't.. I won't do it."

"See who, Tom? Your friends?"

She was startled at how cracked and low his reply came, " Yes.."

" Oh God, Tommy.. I'm so sorry.." she went to hug him, but was surprised when he turned away. She sighed, but recovered quickly.

" Pushing me away isn't going to help anything. We have to go. We can't stay in here, and you can't dwell on this-"

" I can't dwell on this? I can't DWELL on it? You can cry about it everyday, about how your life is ruined, no one will remember you, your family is going on without you, but I can't be upset over the death of my friends? When it was MY fault? Don't tell me I can't dwell, because I'm not dwelling, and if I wanted to, I think I have that right!"

" Tommy, calm down! If you didn't want to hear me crying, then you should have said it! I'll leave you alone from now on okay? Will that make you happy! Ya know what, screw it.. You do your thing, and I'll do mine. Have a nice time here... I'm goin' back to camp," she turned away from him, walking through the plane, only stopping to grab her bag from her overhead. She exited the plane, landing on her bad ankle, but ignored it and made her way back to camp.

She threw all the bags at the entrance of the cave, and crawled in, grabbing her copybook. She laid with her head out the entrance, watching the plane, and continued to write as she felt tears stinging her eyes. _How does everything always manage to go so wrong? _

The sun was nearly set by the time Jude finished writing, and she was really starting to worry about Tommy. She had kept her eye on the entrance of the plane since she got out, and never once saw a glimpse of him. _What is something happened to him? Maybe he fainted again.. No, who cares. He's a big boy, he doesn't need your help. He said almost flat out that you were annoying. Kinda anyway. But maybe.. _She quickly stood up, walking over to the plane. As much as she wanted to avoid him, she couldn't help but be worried.

"Tommy! Tom, are you okay?" she screamed into the entrance. No answer.

_Okay, I'll just go in and check if he's alright, and when I know he is, I'll leave him alone, like I said. Yeah, that's what I'll do... _She decided, once again entering the plane.

It was darker now, and the smell hit her like a ton of bricks, making her head light. As soon as her eyes adjusted and she was balanced, she walked further in, keeping an eye out for Tommy. She felt knots form in her stomach as she heard quiet sobs. She ventured further, gasping when she saw Tommy's figure, hunched in a ball in the corner. He was leaning against the entrance of the first class section, but facing the opposite direction.

" Tommy?"

He froze. His sobs quieted, his shoulders stopped shaking, and he sat up straight. " I thought you were done with me?" his voice came out low, strained and a hell of a lot sexier than he knew.

" I.. I'm just.. Well I am, I was just gonna get some more stuff.." she lied.

" And shove it in my face that you can come in here whenever you please?" he was angry this time. Plain out bitter, and it was even sexier than before. Or would have been had he not made her so mad.

" No! It's nothing like that, Tommy and you know it. I was just seeing if you were ever planning on leaving okay? I'm sorry I bothered.."

" Well I'm sorry too Jude. I'm sorry you feel like you have to check up on me. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. And you need to know, cause they never will. They don't know. I tried to tell them, but do they listen? No, cause they're dead, that's why. But you.. You're alive, and you make me feel alive. So you need to know. You need to know I'm sorry. So sorry.." he continued mumbling his apologies while Jude watched on, teary eyed and even scared. Was he going insane?

" Tommy, come on. They know. **I **know. Now let's go."

" Yeah... yeah, let's go. We should go..." he rambled, not moving. Jude reached for him, hoisting him up and grabbing the bags he had collected, which seemed to have duplicated. He clung to her, not letting blood circulate to her arm, and they slowly made their way to the front of the plane. As they passed his seats, she could have swore she heard him mumbling, " Watch out forme guys, don't let me do anything stupid.." but it was so quiet, she couldn't be sure. All she was sure of was the emotional "goodbye.." he had mumbled as they left the plane with out looking back.


	9. For All We Know

**Again, I have to thank you all for the reviews. You guys are freakin' awesome. **

**Second, I wanted to just add that the song I used for this chapterisn't really Jude's type of style, but the lyrics worked for me, and once I'm set on something, I just have a hard time being convinced otherwise. So yeah, I couldn't convince myself to choose a new one.. or even look for a better one, actually. **

**But yeah, I'll shut up now. Thanks again soo much :)

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****Chapter 9 **- For All We Know

The sun was peeking only the slightest bit over the clouds, leaving a gorgeous glow over their campsite as they returned there. Jude felt Tommy's hold on her loosen a bit, and for the first time she realized he had gotten dressed into a pair of dry, loose fitting jeans. She threw her bags next to the cave, Tommy doing the same, and sat on a log near the fire.

" You okay?" she asked cautiously. Boy, had their rolls switched.

_**Love, look at the two of us**_

_**Strangers in many ways** _

" Yeah, how're you?"

_**We've got a lifetime to share **_

**_So much to say _**

" Holdin' up.." She said quietly, wanting more than anything to just be able to hug him. Anything to make him feel the least bit better. As if reading her mind, he opened his arms and she immediately fell into them, crushing her still soaked body against his toned and naked chest. She felt him press his lips softly against her forehead, then on both cheeks, her nose, and finally on her lips. She sighed as their lips crashed together, his tongue quickly seeking shelter in the confines of her mouth. And as quickly as it had started, he pulled away, his eyes sparkling and lustful, his lips just slightly reddened. He leaned closer to her ear, whispered " Thank you," and lightly kissed her again.

" I should, uh, probably get changed," Jude mumbled, unable to move away from him.

_**And as we go **_

_**From day to day** _

" Probably a good idea," he said quietly, watching intently as she moved away, grabbing her bag from the pile that had accumulated. She disappeared into the cave, re-emerging fully clothed in oversized black sweat pants and a long sleeved T-shirt.

He smiled faintly as she rejoined him by the fire and they sat in silence as they watched the sun move lower and lower in the sky, casting a pink and orange glow on the lake before them.

" Well, if we had to be stranded somewhere, at least its pretty," Jude commented, in awe of the simple beauty of an everyday sunset.

_**I'll feel you close to me **_

_**But time alone will tell**_

" Yeah, and if I had to be stranded with someone.. I'm glad she's absolutely gorgeous," Tommy said sincerely, engaging in a heated stare that only made Judes cheeks a deeper shade of red. She forced her eyes down, remembering their argument in the plane. _Is he serious now? Or had he really meant it? Am I just some kid he's stuck with... one that complains to much? _

" I didn't mean it Jude," he stated simply, reading her mind.

" How do you know what I'm thinking of?" she asked, amazed at how well he could read her.

" Your eyes."

" My eyes?" she questioned softly.

" Yeah, those eyes," he whispered, then continued louder," But I didn't mean it. I'm glad its you here with me. I really am. It's just so frustrating knowing they're in there, and I couldn't help. And I still can't. I'm just frustrated that I'm so scared of them that I couldn't help you. I couldn't help us."

_**Let's take a lifetime to say "I knew you well" **_

_**For only time will tell us so **_

" Well, I'm sorry you're frustrated, but I'm not sorry I'm here with you. I didn't mean to make you think otherwise. Come here." He moved closer to her, wrapping her into a tight hug, holding on as if she too would leave him. But he felt it in her touch. She wasn't leaving; he could see it in the eyes he could so quickly be captivated in. She wasn't going anywhere, simply because he needed her too much. Without knowing it, he had become dependant of her, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

" I did mean one thing though. You do make me feel alive."

_**And love may grow**_

_**For all we know. **_

Tommy rekindled the fire as darkness surrounded them. Neither had moved from the embrace; they had sat enveloped in each other, barely able to stay awake until now, when Tommy felt obliged to keep the fire lit. Now he made his way back to his previous position, leaning against a log facing the fire, with Jude's back laying against his chest. Her eyes were heavy and she had stopped talking long ago, but she was trying to stay awake.

" Jude, why don't we get some sleep? We can go through the bags in the morning."

" I wanna play you my song.."she whispered.

" You can barely sit up," he let out a low laugh.

" I'm awake, get the guitar," she mumbled, but she could barely sit up.

"You can play it in the morning," he promised.

" I don't wanna. Can't we just stay here for a while?"

" We could, but I'm gonna go in that fine cave of ours.. You comin' or stayin'?"

" Comin... eventually.. At least read the lyrics," she mumbled, snuggling deeper into his chest. He grabbed the notebook she was pointing at and nodded, quickly scanning the words. ( Bolded print throughout the chapter!)

" They're perfect," he whispered, then realized she was practically dead asleep. "Alright, looks like I'm carrying your butt to bed..." and before she could object, she was in his arms.

He carried her the short distance, her arms quickly wrapping around his neck while her head found a comfortable position on his chest. He sighed heavily, not wanting to put her down, but did gently. He laid down next to her, whispering goodnight, and quickly entered dreamland.

**_Love, look at the two of us_**

Jude shivered slightly as a light breeze blew into their the cave, the sound of rain pattering against the rocks and lake entering her ears. She allowed her eyes to open a bit, immediately shutting them to relieve her eyes from the bright sunshine. With her eyes still shut, she nudged Tommy, who was still sleeping soundly next to her.

" Quincy, wake up!" she whined, poking him harder.

" Ughh, what is it?" not even bothering to face her.

" Wake up.." she continued her whining, not opening her eyes.

" For what?" he mumbled sleepily.

" I'm cold."

" Then come 'ere.." he turned towards her, pulling her closer so she was practically underneath him.

" Can you get me a sweatshirt?" she asked in a child like manner, and as he opened one eye he could see she was pulling the puppy dog face.

" Aw, Jude.. Don't.. I'm tired.."

" Please, Tommy?"

" You owe me.." he said simply, crawling out of the cave ; he returned less than a minute later with damp hair and her sweatshirt.

" Thank you," she grinned, pulling it over her head, and starting to resume to her previous position. Just as she was about to fall back asleep, though, his voice rang close to her ear.

" Jude, we should probably get up.."

" Why? I'm tired."

" So am I, but its raining, and if it gets worse we won't have enough dry wood to keep a fire. Ours is already out. And we should go through those bags too.."

" Five minutes, then we can get up.." she whispered, placing his arm around her to get as close to him as possible.

" That sounds good to me.." he mumbled, falling back asleep.

Before long, Jude felt Tommy shaking her. " I said five more minutes, Tom.. Come on, it won't kill us.." she grumbled, eliciting a laugh from him.

" Jude, we slept for longer than five minutes, come on... That had to be at least an hour.. Fine, you can sleep, but I'm lookin through this stuff.." he backed away from her and exited the cave, but not before adding, " Hmm, I wonder if you packed anything interesting..."

_**Strangers in many ways**_

He disappeared as she shot up, scrambling to beat him to her bag. " You don't go through a girls luggage, Tommy! Didn't your mom teach you any manners?" She shouted, running out of the cave, only to see him standing at the side of the entrance, grinning widely.

" Ah, looks like Jude Harrison has some incriminating things in her bag..." he said laughing, as she rolled her eyes. " I knew that would work.."

" Fine, you won that one, but you better watch your back boy, Jude Harrison has quite a few tricks up her sleeve, believe it or not."

" Oh, I'm so scared girl... just remember, I've already been through your bag.." Her mouth dropped open in shock.

" Don't give me that look, missy, you're the one who needed that sweatshirt."

" Hah, you better not have been through my things, Quincy. Now let's get our stuff, I'm gettin' wet," she said, looking towards the sky. It was only raining lightly, barely spitting, and the sun was shining brightly.

" It's just a sun shower Jude, a little water never killed anyone," he laughed, taking his time with the bags he was collecting.

" Uh, hello, yes it did. Didn't you ever see 'The Wizard Of Oz?'" She asked jokingly, and it took a minute for him to decide whether she was serious or not.

" Um, actually.. No, I haven't.." She stopped what she was doing to face him, an appalled look on her face.

" Please, tell me you are joking," she said, her eyes wide.

" Uhh, nope," came his simple answer as he grabbed another bag while she continued to stare.

" Tommy, never? Not once? You never popped in the movie while you were on the road, not to watch with some groupie girls? Not even to see the part where the munchkin hangs himself in the back round of one scene?"

" What! No munchkins hang themselves.. That's like a PG movie.. And I sure as hell wasn't playing the Wizard of Oz when girls came on the tour bus," He argued, stopping his work.

" Uh, duh, I know that! But the munchkin hangs himself in the back round.. You never heard that story? Wait, don't answer that.. You've never seen the Wizard of Oz.." she teased.

" Is there a point to this?" he asked smiling, still not moving.

" Uhh, there was, but I forgot it.." she said quietly, moving closer to him and grabbing the bag he had previously abandoned.

" Yeah, I kinda noticed when you started rambling about munchkins."

" I wasn't rambling.. That munchkin really did hang himself! Cause he didn't get the part of the tin man! I swear! When we get outta here, we're watching it, and you'll see.." she said, standing in front of him, clutching the bag as he stood there watching her.

_**Let's take a lifetime to say "I knew you well"**_

" Really?" he asked, slightly amused, and very pleased that she saw them hanging out even after this experience. He took another step closer, so their bodies were almost touching, and couldn't help suppress the grin when she realized what she had said.

" Well, I meant.. Wait, I did NOT mean it like that. You'll just have to see it and stuff.. But since you've never, uh watched.. You'd need someone to point out, the um.. Hanging munchkin... and stuff.. Actually, I didn't even mean me.. I just meant, that like you have to watch it... it's a classic," she rambled again, as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer, continuing to smile at her contradicting herself.

_**For only time will tell us so **_

" WHY are you looking at me like that! Stop smiling.." Jude laughed as Tommy pulled her closer to him, not letting the silly grin fall off of his face as she started to squirm.

Pulling her closer, Tommy ever so slowly moved his face close to hers, as if to kiss her. Jude lightly closed her eyes, waiting to feel him kiss her. He didn't.

She opened her eyes again to see that Tommy was grinning insanely, "QUINCY!"

"You know that was what you meant!" he said for the first time in this part of Jude's conversation with herself.

"It was NOT!" Jude giggled as Tommy went in for another 'kiss' but pulled away as soon as he could feel her rushed breath on his face. She whimpered lightly, reallywanting to kiss him.

"You want me!" Tommy said teasingly, lightly rubbing his nose on hers as she giggled.

"You're so full of yourself, Quincy."

He continued to tease her, blowing on her cheeks and letting his lips hover over hers but never touching them.

"Okay okay I do, happy? Little Tommy Q has once again won the heart of a teenage girl," she giggled as Tommy kept the one thing she wanted so close, but yet so far away.

_**And love may grow **_

He let out a throaty laugh as he finally pressed his lips to hers. Feeling her respond immediately, he brought his hands up higher on her back and pulled her closer to him. She had been aching to kiss him, and this was exactly what she needed.

Once she was satisfied, Jude broke their kiss, reminding him about the bags.

She stepped away to grab the bags she had forgotten about. As they turned to enter their cave, Jude gasped. Tommy looked up, following her gaze, and was faced with a perfect rainbow stretching across the sky and ending near the far end of the lake.

" It's so pretty here," Jude whispered, her smile growing even wider. " Think it's a sign?"

" A sign for what?" Tommy asked, focusing his attention on the one thing more perfect then the rainbow.

" Ya know.. Rainbows always come after a storm, like something good always comes after something bad... do you think it's a sign, that something good will happen after this?"

" Cute, Harrison.. But one, that wasn't a storm-"

" You know what I meant!" she said, sticking her tongue at him.

" Okay, I did.. But two, I don't think this is bad at all.." he continued quietly and she raised an eyebrow at his statement.

" What's so bad about being alone with a gorgeous woman?"

She blushed, but rolled her eyes, and giggled, " I think it's a sign.."

**_For all we know. _ **

_

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_

Okay, so I need your opinions for the next chapter : It's already done, but seeing as this whole story was written for a different couple, the song I used isn't one of Jude's. I've narrowed it down to : Temporary Insanity, Time to be your 21, and It Could Be You - so if you want a say in the next chapter's song, here's your chance. Let me know which one you like best :) Thanks soo much!


	10. Living Gets Comfortably Open

**Okay, so I'm alive. And I didn't forget about this story... well, I did. But I want to thank a bunch of you guys for PMing me and reminding me to get my butt in action. I told someone it would be up this past weekend... and it wasn't; so I'm SORRY! But I promise, as long as I know people are still reading (meaning review!) then the next chapter will be up ASAP. Meaning this week. **

**Oh, and the reason it took so long? I couldn't decide on the song. So I kept the original one. Disclaimer : I don'town it.**

**One last thing: Please disreguard any grammatical or spelling errors. I was in a hurry to get this up! Thanks!

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**

**Chapter 10** - Living Gets Comfortably Open

Tommy sat down on a log and unintentionally let his eyes watch Jude as she finished going through the multitude of bags. He had to admit, they did a good job at robbing that plane clean of luggage. But as glad as he was over that, he was even more pleased by the fact that he and Jude had spent the entire morning unpacking, and had not once gotten into a disagreement. In fact, they had so much in common it was almost unbelievable. Even more unbelievable though, was how open she had been with him. They shared their life stories with each other and he couldn't help but hang onto every little detail. She was too perfect.

" Tommy?"

Her voice brought him out of his dreamland, and she grinned at him.

" I'm sorry, musta spaced out.. Did you need help with something?"

" Oh no, I was just pointing out how sweaty I'm getting... I was askin if ya wanted to get another shower, but I'll just take your silence as a no.." she teased, trying to keep a straight face while she removed her jacket, revealing a tight tank top underneath. Her cheeks were slightly burnt from being out in the sun, and she pulled her hair into a pony, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand as she sat next to him for a break.

" Wha- take my silence as a yes. A very enthusiastic yes..." he replied, somewhat shocked.

" Ever hear of a joke, Quincy?" she laughed, "But now that I have your attention, maybe you'll be so kind as to answer my real question?"

Tommy chuckled, realizing she was teasing, and replied, " Sure, what was it?"

" Well, we told each other all about our lives and our pasts, and I officially know more about you than any BoyzAttacker, including my overly obsessed sister, but what about your present? What do you really do? What's an average day in the life of the Grown Tommy Q?"

He smiled, breathing deep, and thought for a minute before answering, " Well, I'm a free-lance producer. And I sign artists to a friends management label."

She nodded, motioning for him to continue.

" Everyday life is... well, hectic I guess. I work a lot, and I'm not home too much, but I wouldn't change it for anything. It took me awhile to get where I am now, and it's not something I wanna give up any time soon. And I don't know, hopefully I can start a solo career later down the line, I don't want to give up singing.. What about you?"

" Me? I guess you could say I'm still trying to get where you are.. I've wanted to be a singer since I realized I _could_ sing. I never looked back after that. I was on my way home to start my album... I don't know what will happen now. I suppose I'll go back and try and see if they'll still have me. Maybe I'll finish school before continuing to pursue it.. I don't know. "

" Maybe I could help you out... with the singing thing, ya know?"

" I.. wow, um, I don't know? You mean, like sign me?" she said, shocked. She knew he had connections, but she didn't expect him to offer to help her, especially considering he had heard very little of her work.

" Well, I don't know.. I'm sure we could work something out... And that's only if your other offer isn't still standing."

" That would be so perfect," she thought carefully. So either way, when she left, she had a label. She was making her album.

Tommy smiled at how excited she seemed to be; he had heard her play and sing, and saw lyrics she had written; plus her personality screamed, hit. But just in case...

" Can you play again?"

" Oh well, I guess.. I mean, I haven't really worked on anything for a while..."

" Okay... well you go warm up, are we done with the bags?

" Sir, yes, sir! Everything's organized according to your sadistically specific plan, sir!" Jude answered, taking on a military stance and tone, resulting in Tommy rolling his eyes.

" Come on, I'm not that bad... this way everything's together..."

" Yes, because it all has it's own 'special place,' right!" She said laughing.

" Jude, Jude, Jude... you'll see.. Being organized comes in handy."

" Fine, some stuff I can see... like the food and tools and stuff, but I don't think it matters if our clothes are organized according to color, size, _material_, and so on.. The freakin' picks I brought along have their own special bag! It's ridiculous..."

Tommy burst out laughing at this, but Jude continued on, completely unabashed.

" I'm not kidding... are you obsessive compulsive? Cause I won't hold it against you...and now that we know pretty much all of eachother's secrets.. It's really crazy how free time can open people up, even strangers," she grinned. "I might go to the tabloids when we get home, with some of the stuff I pulled out of you..."

He ignored her question, smiling at her playful manner, and continued to stand up.

" Right, cause I couldn't turn around and inform your entire town of your own secrets," he threatened.

" I guess I'll head out to collect more logs or something... go for a walk while you warm up... is there anything I'm supposed to be doing? I feel like we need something..."

She raised an eyebrow at him, " We're stranded in no man's land, Tommy.. Of course there's stuff we need!" she laughed before continuing, " But I guess I know what ya mean... There's not really much else we can get.. Those bags really helped.. But I don't know... usually we're so busy, and now, we have a heck of a lot more than what we started out with.. I don't think we're doin' too bad for ourselves," she smiled widely, very proud of where they had come since they had arrived about 10 days ago.

" We make a good team, I guess," he replied, his smile as big as hers.

" Remember that when you sign me pal."

" Will do, ma'am."

" Ma'am! A couple more years and you're a decade older than me. I should be calling you sir," she joked.

" You better get warming up.." he said, rolling his eyes, and with that he turned to take his walk.

She got up from her seat by the nonexistent fire, grabbed the guitar case, and walked towards the lake, sitting on an oversized rock that jetted out above the water. Removing her newly found sandals, she let her feet rest in the water beneath her, and started strumming the guitar he once again lent her. To her surprise, she was actually kind of nervous about singing for Tommy. She wasn't sure why exactly.. Mostly she just wanted to impress him.

" Okay... now what song should I sing?" she said to herself, racking her brain for a good song.

Tommy watched her from a distance, not sure if she was finished practicing, but decided now was a good a time as any. She'd had plenty of time, surely she was warmed up by now. He walked towards her, sitting on the rock, her back turned to him with her cute feet dangling in the water below.

"_Ooooh...  
Prayed for an angel  
To come in the night and shine some sweet light on me  
Found only strangers then you came to me  
Just when I'd given up  
You gave me love  
My world was tumblin' down  
You turned it around, baby_

_You...are...you're some kind of miracle,  
You...are...you're a miracle to me."_

Her voice was simply angelic, he couldn't get enough of it, and continued to listen to her, unnoticed.

"_Sweet revelation  
That look in your eyes  
Your touch in the night  
I find the sweetest salvation  
In your arms, baby  
Warm as the morning sun  
Your tender love  
Came and just lifted me up  
Look what you've done, baby _

You...are...you're some kind of miracle, oh  
You you you you...are...you're a miracle to me."

He'd never heard the song before, but it didn't matter. Her voice was unlike any other, and the emotion she put into the lyrics was incredible.

"_Ohhh... _

You brought joy to my heart  
I found love in your arms  
See what you've done to me?  
You set my soul so free  
You came and you gave me the love that I need

Oh

You...are...you're some kind of miracle, baby yeah  
You...are...you're a miracle  
A miracle...  
To me.

Baby you are  
Oh, a miracle to me"

Tommy clapped, recognizing the end of the song, and she turned around, caught off-guard at the site of him.

" You cheated!" she said, pointing at him. He held his hands up in defeat.

" Maybe, but I'm glad I did... that was amazing, Jude, I'm in complete awe right now."

" Really?" She smiled happily, setting the guitar down and putting her sandals back on.

" Yes, really, and if you don't have a producer when we get out of here, you're looking at one."

" No way! REALLY!" her face lit up completely, he'd never seen her so happy, and that alone made him all the more positive.

" Yes, I'm serious!" he chuckled as she continued freaking out, jumping up and down. Then she stopped.

" You swear?" This made Tommy laugh out loud, but he answered anyway. " Yes, I swear."

" Sorry, I know this isn't professional, but this is so awesome... Okay, sorry, I'm done now.." She said, calming down, but flinging her arms around him in a bear hug. Her previous disposition was already gone, and she quietly whispered thank you.

" Hey, I'm happy to do it... come on, I fixed up camp a bit, I wanna show you.." She smiled again, stepping out of his embrace, but took his hand in her as they headed back to their camp.

" Oh God, Tommy... where are our bags?" She asked, rolling her eyes.

" No, really... this is cool.. You'll like it I swear.."

He led her about 20 feet away from their cave, and stopped in front of a section of the wall that was covered by grass. In one swift motion, he swept the grass aside, which acted as a curtain, unveiling a cave almost identical to their own. Inside, all their bags, which had once been scattered out on the shore, were piled up neatly, and a row of backpacks were lined up, Jude's in front.

" You have GOT to be kidding me, Tommy!" She said, laughing hysterically. " You are insane, did you know that?" He just shrugged, bending over and moving a rock the size of a melon.

" Ta-dah," he smiled, letting her look in the hole that was now apparent in the ground.

" Tommy, you have serious, serious issues... but I'm willing to forget it, if you explain what THAT is.."

" Food storage !"

" Again.. I'll reiterate.. Serious, serious issues.."

" No way! We can keep berries and stuff in there, and plus, I found a hell of a lot of goodies in..." he grabbed the backpack right behind Jude's, " Ms. Eileen P. Moore's bag... Let's see.." he started pulling things out.

" Box of fruit roll ups... they don't go bad, right? Hmm, chips.. I guess those are okay.. Oh ew, a banana.. Not so good," he tossed it over his head. " A can of soup... Family sized ! There's ton's of stuff in here, Jude. And now it's ours, and even better, it's organized. We'll find everything we need. Plus, you said there wasn't much else we could do around here.. I was pretty bored waiting for you to warm up... This kept me occupied.." He explained as he tossed everything back in the bag and lined it back up.

" Hey, I don't care what you do in your free time, but don't yell at me if it gets messed up. I'm not anal about things like you.. I'd be happy with all that stuff thrown in the sand."

" I'm not anal, I was bored... and I like things organized.."

" And you're obsessive compulsive.." She teased.

" Watch what you call your boss, Jude Harrison."

" Oh, he brought out the full name. Looks like I'm in trouble!" she laughed, walking away from Tommy's masterpiece and sitting in the sand.

" Hey, just don't say you weren't warned.."

" Okay, I was warned!" she stuck her tongue out at him and he sat next to her in comfortable silence that was soon broken.

" Why didn't you want to talk about your management before, Jude?"

" I don't know.. It's been a touchy subject with my family.. And it's not like I wanted to tell my problems to a stranger.." she sighed. " But I guess you're not really a stranger anymore.. My mom wanted me to finish high school, full time, you know? But I just wanted to sing. And when I won this contest, that's how I ended up getting a label, my mom was naturally excited for me, but I think she just wanted me to have a back up plan. And I don't want one. I don't want to wait. I was stubborn, I've always been that way. And it's not like my management, what I met of it, was the greatest either. I mean, it is a big deal. It's a really good company, but the workers that I was dealing with, and the ones my parents met.. They weren't exactly the kind of people I associate with. I mean, I'm not familiar with these things, so maybe all business men are like that.. But they had a lot of rules for me, they were just rude. They wanted me to change. They STILL want me to change, but I haven't. I don't want to. I just wanna sing. And I mean, obviously the bigwigs there didn't have a problem with me, if I won, right?"

" Right... they sound like a bunch of idiots to me, Jude. You're perfect the way you are, stick your ground, sometimes it's good to be stubborn."

" My mom would probably hit you for saying that, but I agree.. Stubborn is good," she laughed. " Besides, I got myself a new management, don't I?"

" Yes you do, Jude Harrisson, newest client at G Major," he proclaimed, proudly.

" I'm sorry, did you say, G Major?" she asked, tensing up a bit.

" Yeah, that's my friend Georgia's label, why?"

" That's my management."

" Yeah, new and improved management."

" No, Tommy.. That was my old management. I'm the Instant Star winner."

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**Now it's time to review... I swear the next chapter won't take half as long as this one did. It's already being edited right as soon as I close this page.**

**Thanks to everyone who's still reading!**


	11. Imperfection's Never Been So Perfect

**Hey all, HAPPY EASTER! **

**I wanna thank you all soooooosososo much for the reviews, I couldn't believe the response I got. Definitely a good thing. **

**Just a quick author's note, then I'll get to the next chapter.. **

**A/N : In the original fic, Tommy's position was owner of the label... so I kinda hadda revamp it; adjust quite a few things, so if it's a little off, or confusing, or overly dramatic, that's why. I hope you still like it, and obviously I don't own the song.**

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**Chapter 11** - Imperfection's Never Been So Perfect

" Oh, God... you.. You're already signed with us? You're the Instant Star winner?" he muttered as she stood up.

_**I'm not a perfect person  
There's many things I wish I didn't do  
But I continue learning**_

" You... I... I'll be back.." she said confusedly, as she turned to walk away.

" Jude.. Wait! What's wrong? This is good..."

" No it isn't Tommy! It's your freaking label that wants me to change.. I thought I had a chance in this business, but now it's quite apparent that I don't unless I cave.. Tommy, I'm not mad, I'm just.. I'm confused.. I need to think.." She turned away from him, but didn't make any attempts at moving. Finally she started a slow pace moving away from Tommy.

" Wait, Jude, can we talk?" he asked, catching up with her.

" Can I just think about everything for a minute?"

" You don't understand though, Jude, I'm not like those workers.. I'm not even associated with them, I'm a freelance producer there. I'm producing you as a favor to Georgia."

_**  
I never meant to do those things to you**_

" That makes it worse Tommy, that you don't even have any idea that the company you work for is molding your clients, the people _you're_ supposed to be producing, according to what they think is right, and not according to your rules and standards. You should be telling them how the album should sound, not the other way around. It's hypocritical! "

He froze at her accusation, while she waited for a reply. But Tommy was both taken aback, and somewhat hurt, and she didn't receive one. He met her gaze, his eyes colder than they had been mere moments ago. She shook her head, wishing more than ever that she had thought before she spoke, but she hadn't. She turned away from him once again, but before she could walk away, Tommy did. And she didn't try to stop him.

_**And so I have to say before I go  
That I just want you to know**_

Jude stood in the same spot, just thinking things over and wondering what everything meant. She had no idea how long she stood there, or what she was going to say to Tommy. Or even if he'd speak to her. But she knew she had to try, so she went off to find him, practicing an apology in her head. Not knowing where to look, she decided to head straight to her own thinking spot, their waterfall, and sure enough, after a short walk she found him there, leaning against the wall of the small cave, his knees to his chest and his head in his hands.

" Tommy?" she spoke too softly, and her voice was unheard over the roar of the waterfall.

"Tommy?" her voice was somewhat louder, no stronger though, and he still didn't hear her. She took a step toward him, kneeling next to him and gently placing her hand on his knee. He jumped in surprise, and she was taken aback at his tear stained face and red eyes. They met her own, and she was unable to look away, unable to think coherently, and unable to speak.

" Did you have a decision, Miss Harrison, or are you hear to pronounce more accusations against myself, and the business I've worked so hard on?" He was cold, but not without reason.

" Can you come back now? We can't very well hold a conversation here, it's too loud, and I don't want to scream.." she said, only loud enough to be heard. He didn't answer, just stood up, and walked away. She followed, not speaking until she caught up, and as she tried to keep up with his pace, she tripped and nearly fell.

" Would you mind slowing down?" He did, without answering and they soon arrived back at the scene where all was discovered.

" Well?" he asked, and she opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. He raised an eyebrow at her, still waiting.

" I.. Well, I'm sorry for accusing you of those things, but you have to see where I'm coming from.." she started only to be interrupted.

" Where you're coming from? Really.. Well, where ARE you coming from?" his voice was yet again cold, this time etched with sarcasm as well.

" Tommy, just try to understand. Try and think of what it would be like for you, if you're signed with a management who doesn't like anything about you. Who wants you to change and will only give you a job if you do so, no matter how well you can sing or play. And then imagine that you're offered a job where you're told you DON'T have to change... not in the least bit, you can sing and write and compose, be yourself, and not sacrifice any morals or pride, only to find out that this new company is the same as your old one. And nothing at all is different. I'm being offered my dreams only to have them altered, offered again and then taken away..."

_**I've found a reason for me  
To change who I used to be**_

" Jude, I didn't KNOW that these people were doing this.."

" But if you did, would you have done something about it?"

" I will for you," he answered simply. But that wasn't what she wanted to hear.

**_  
A reason to start over new  
and the reason is you_**

" Tommy, you ARE like your company. That company IS you. You produce it, and before me, it was exactly to your liking, wasn't it ?"

He didn't answer, because truth be told, it WAS what he wanted. He didn't have to be committed to the place. He was successful, his productions were successful, and quite frankly he hadn't cared before what the workers did to make it a success. But he cared now, didn't that make up for something?

" It was, Tommy.. You can't deny it was all you'd ever wanted."

" Look, I won't deny that, because you know. And I know. And I won't lie to you. But I DO care now, and I want to change it, can't that count for anything? We're making a bigger deal out of this than it has to be. I'll make adjustments, and everything will be fine. It's simple."

" It's not simple! You're just not who I thought you were... Or, maybe you're exactly who I thought you were.." the last part came out as though she was finally realizing something; she was making a connection to a previous impression. To her first impression.

_**I'm sorry that I hurt you  
It's something I must live with everyday  
And all the pain I put you through  
I wish that I could take it all away  
And be the one who catches all your tears  
That's why I need you to hear  
**_

" What do you mean?" his voice was defensive, and by her own tone, he had reason to be.

" Maybe, you're just who I thought you were. A huge pop-star.. a sex symbol and idol to millions of teenage girls worldwide, complete with a super male ego. THAT was my first impression of you, but after a few days, I thought maybe it was different. But it's not. It may be somewhat deeper, maybe a little more complex, but for the most part, that's you. It's who you are. And it didn't change, only your surroundings did..."

She could tell by the look on his face that he was stunned, obviously no one had ever been so bold or open but she had to find out where he stood. Who he really was. Was he just a famous singer, out to change the world, and his own life, one girl at a time? A successful producer, changing the image of all his clients to make even more money for himself? Or was he really who he now claimed to be? Did he care enough to change his former image rules and let her be a client with her own sense of style?

"Jude, I will admit that I was happy. I'll admit that all I cared about was my own success, and the success of the artists I produced. I did things I shouldn't have, I wasn't always fair, and I acted just as you suspected. I'm looked at as a sex symbol, and I ran with that.. But I'm also willing to change all of that. And I think I deserve a chance, and that you're the perfect person to help me change."

_**I've found a reason for me  
To change who I used to be  
A reason to start over new  
And the reason is you **_

" Why me? I can't help you Tommy, I can't change you. What makes me different from the previous girls you've signed? What about the next naive girl you come across? I'm not different, because you don't let anyone be."

_**I'm not a perfect person  
I never meant to do those things to you  
And so I have to say before I go  
That I just want you to know**_

" You ARE different. I would have never been willing to sacrifice for anyone else. I never would have given anyone else options. But right now, all I can think about is you, and what you want. And what it will take to make you agree that I should be your producer, and you should be at that label, with me. Because I don't care what it takes. You can have it. I like you Jude, I'm sure that's obvious, and I don't only want you around as my client. I don't know if it's the situation we're in, or the fact that you're so uniquely different from anyone else I've ever met, but I feel a connection with you, and I've felt it since the beginning of this whole thing. I know the age thing is wrong, I know that my being yournew producermakes it even worse, but this is something I've never felt before, especially not in such a short amount of time. And I'm hoping, that mistakes I've made in the past, before I knew you, won't ruin my chances of changing, and being a better person. If not for myself, or other clients, then for you... Please just let me have a chance.."

And with that, he picked up the guitar he had taken with him, and asked her lyrically to forgive and forget. (Bolded words throughout the chapter!)

**_I've found a reason to show  
A side of me you didn't know  
A reason for all that I do  
And the reason is you_**

**_

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**I can't stress enough how much I love reviews, so pleaseee leave me some feedback! There's only one chapter left :-)**


	12. Surviving It All

**Okay, here it is, the last chapter. It's been fun, but unfortunately, it's over. Don't forget to review, I love all feedback, good, bad, mean, nice, long, short. You name it. Plus, this is my last chance for it. **

**Thanks to everrryone who did leave a review, whether it was one or one for every chapter. **

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**Chapter 12** - Surviving It All

Before Jude could respond to Tommy, tears filled her eyes and she bit her lip. She whimpered quietly, putting her hand over her face and turning away from him.

"Jude, what's wrong?" Tommy asked, touching her shoulder. He expected her to push him away or snap at him, but instead she turned back to him and looked into his eyes. The pain and agony he saw in her eyes was almost unbearable.

She closed her eyes, squeezing out some of the tears that started to cascade down her cheeks After gaining her composure, or so she thought, Jude spoke in a bare whisper.

"Why me?" she asked him as Tommy wiped a tear from her gorgeous face. "I mean... why change everything for me?"

Jude was really confusing him now; just minutes ago she'd been yelling at him for being the way he is... and now she was trying to talk him out of his decision?

" I couldn't tell you why, Jude, because I don't even know... I only know that I will.. Just give me a chance..."

He watched her carefully, waiting for any kind of response, nearly looking over the small nod she gave him.

" Yes?" he asked incredulously, hoping he saw correctly, and holding his breath.

" Yes," she said, still nodding, as an enormous grin broke out on his face and he breathed again. Wrapping her in a tight hug, he couldn't help the relieved laugh that sounded. Who could have known one word could make him so happy.

" I promise you won't regret it.." he said, pulling out of their hug to look in her eyes, which were now brimming with happiness.

" I know.." she answered quietly, returning to his arms. She smiled into his chest, wondering how she ended up in such a position, but thankful for it at the same time. " God, this is dumb.. Who's to say we're even leaving here anyway..."

" We will... it's just a matter of time."

" How do you know?"

" It's fate..."

She laughed lightly, " Really... fate?"

" Yep, just like being here is.."

" Oh, so it was fate our plane crashed too?"

" Are you doubting me.."

" Maybe.. Whatcha planning to do about it?" she said, flashing her signature grin.

" Give you a lesson in destiny," he said, lowering his mouth to hers. " Do you need one, or can we continue with this instead.."

Not answering, Jude closed the gap between their mouths, smiling the whole time.

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Days became routine for them after that. Waking up only to watch the sun rise, they'd go back to sleep until it was high in the sky, and when they decided it was late enough, they'd go out and collect firewood, or anything else they could find, or sometimes just took long walks, talking and admiring their new home. At night, they'd lie by the fire, sharing stories or fears, just talking or even making music. Things had gotten better, and though their status was still undecided, it wasn't something they worried about. Things were finally settling down, and they really became accustomed to this place. 

But as the days passed, Tommy could sense a whole new demeanor in Jude. True, they were getting along great, and they hadn't fought at all, but she seemed weaker, like she didn't have the energy to challenge him if she wanted to. The days continued on, bringing blazing heat in the day, and intense cold at night. Worse of all, supplies were running low, and Jude seemed to lose any hope of leaving. Still, she was happy with Tommy, and it was obvious he was keeping her going. Unfortunately, she seemed to be getting worse and worse as the week wore on.

" Jude? Are you sure you're feeling alright?" Tommy asked when he was woken from his sleep a week later. She was shivering uncontrollably, but her entire body was burning.

Trying and failing to reply, she simply shook her head no, beginning to tear up at the pain pounding in her head. Everything ached, and she couldn't remember feeling so bad, ever.

" Tom.. I.. I..." she gasped for air, crying and shaking.

" Jude, wait.. Just stay right here.." he answered panicky. A million thoughts ran through his head, all horrible, as he scanned his brain for what to do. He quickly tore himself away from her, exiting the cave and making his way to their bags. Searching blindly because of poor lighting, he pulled everything out onto the beach, thanking God for the full moon. Grabbing some extra sweatshirts, a thin t-shirt, and the near empty bottle of aspirin, he rushed to the lake, wetting the shirt and grabbing her abandoned water bottle from earlier in the day. Taking long strides back, he found Jude in the same spot, but deathly quiet. And it scared the hell out of him. Leaning closer, he could make out her distinct breathing, and he let out a breath of relief.

" Jude, girl, wake up... come on, now.." he nudged her, wondering if she still slept so soundly when she was sick. Finding out almost right away that she didn't he forced 2 aspirins in her sweaty palms, advising her to take them and drink.

She obliged, but was still slightly out of it, and sitting up made the pain that much worse. She groaned, trying to swallow but finding that her throat had tightened up in the night. Gulping more water, she attempted again to swallow hard. Finally succeeding, she laid back down, too weak and dizzy to sit upright. Tommy let her go, but covered her with another sweatshirt, and rested the wet t-shirt under her neck, hoping to cool her down. He watched as she grew more comfortable with the coldness against her neck, and eventually her breathing slowed down again, proving she was sleeping, this time more soundly.

Not knowing what more he could do for her, and hoping it was a simple cold that would be gone shortly, he laid back down next to her, hugging her body as close to his as possible, and fell into a restless sleep.

Morning came, for once too slow, and he found Jude in the same state. Removing the now only damp cloth from behind her neck, he went down to the lake to soak it again, and returned it to its place. After readjusting the makeshift blankets though, he knew he had to take more drastic measures. Crying out in frustration, he racked his brain for any ideas of how to help her, how to make her better, but could think of only one. Shaking her lightly, he made sure she was okay, and told her to take more medicine. Watching as she followed his orders and fell back into a deep, disturbing sleep, he bit his lip, deciding to try and help her the only way he knew how.

Leaving the cave, he walked towards the plane that was finally, after about a month, rotting even on the outside. Taking a few steadying breaths, he walked quickly over to it, entering it before he could change his mind. So many thoughts filled his head, memories ran through his mind of the last time he was here, and images of his nightmares flashed in front of his face. He stood completely still, taking the entire scene in. It had changed, though only slightly since the last time he was here, but it was still enough to haunt even the bravest man's dreams. The smell alone told of many deaths, rotting corpses and body parts were visible in the murky water, tinted a shade of red. He didn't know how long he stood there, but he grabbed onto the side of the plane, holding himself up despite the weakness in his legs. The smell was driving him crazy, his senses went into overload as his eyes struggled to adjust to the dim light. Even with the sun shining through the windows and the opening, it was a dim gray inside, only making things worse for him. Feeling his head get light, he breathed deeply once again, trying to ignore the smells. Finally, he let his head go back to Jude, lying sick back on shore, and he snapped out of his daze. Not only was his head working now, but his heart as well, pounding faster and faster as he thought about her. He let his friends down, but she was different.

Taking a small step at first, his pace quickened, wading through the dirty knee high water. Over and over again he told himself to keep going, to ignore the horrible sites, and make it to the first class section. But once he made it, it wasn't better. There were his friends, and his dream was unfolding before his eyes, only this time, the seats weren't empty, and this time was reality. He shut his eyes, not being able to look at them, and immediately broke down. _What was I thinking. _His mind went back to his last visit, and he sunk to his knees, getting covered in water and filth. Just as he did last time with Jude, he sat with his friends, his face blank, showing almost no emotion at all, but he was strained. He was pulled into an almost hypnotic trance and he forgot what he was there for at all.

" I swore I wouldn't come back.." he whispered quietly, " why am I back?"

He thought for a minute, pondering his own question, before replying, " She's sick.." even softer than before. Still somewhat dazed, he stood back up, looking around confusedly, as though he didn't know how he had arrived here. This place seemed to have such a strong impact on his thoughts and emotions, that he couldn't control some of his own actions, but he remembered now why he was here. He remembered what he needed, and he knew he couldn't dwell on them. He knew they were okay now, and as Jude had assured him, they knew he was sorry. And that's all he needed. Searching frantically for something to stand on, he raised himself up to the overhead compartment, pulling out a small bag. Just as he retrieved it though, one more memory entered his mind.

_FLASHBACK :_

_After his admission, and as soon as Jude left him, he couldn't help but break down completely. Sliding against the wall, he cried for his friends, for his guilt, and for all that was going wrong. But he soon realized it wasn't going to help. Jude had been right, and he knew it. Standing up, he made his way through the first class section that was so feared. He made his way over to his friends, cautiously, and immediately took up a normal conversation with them, to ease his fear and nerves. Talking to them and praying for a short while, he felt almost at ease. As though they really could hear him, and understood, but it still hurt. Shaking his head, and wanting to be brave, if not for himself but for Jude, he grabbed his bags from overhead, quickly going through them. Not much was in his carry on, but his friends had packed everything, and he took those bags along with his own. He grabbed the single outfit in his bag, and changed quickly in case Jude came back, though it wasn't likely. He put all the bags aside, and took one more glance in the over head, noticing his other bag. Not remembering what was packed in it, he dismissed it, knowing there couldn't be anything of value. With the reality of his whereabouts, he quickly finished his tasks, making his way out of the first class section just as black surrounded him. He was overwhelmed with darkness now, completely lightheaded, and he collapsed near the entrance, leaning against the wall for a balance. He felt the water surrounding him, filling his nose with an even stronger moldy smell, and once again he broke down. This was just too much. And finally, when he thought it was over for him, and that he too would rot there, he heard Jude's voice behind him._

_END FLASHBACK_

And now here was the bag. The bag that could have easily saved them last time, had he been right in the head. Taking a tighter hold on it, he made his way out of the plane, finally having a sense of closure.

Opening his bag on the way to the cave, he fished around for a minute, before spotting the item he had entered the plane for. Pulling out his cell phone, he flipped it open, relieved to find it had been turned off. Pressing the on button, he groaned out loud at the site of low battery. Nearly ready to give up, he sat outside of the cave, leaving Jude to sleep while he thought once again. _That's it. That was my last hope. _Digging through his bag, he found no batteries, no charger, nothing he could hook his phone up to. Praying, he tried to dial a number, groaning when it automatically hung up before connecting. Giving up, he crawled back next to Jude, wrapping his arms around her and blowing lightly at her over heated forehead.

" Tommy?" she questioned, her voice distant and groggy.

" It's okay, I'm gonna find a way to make this better.. "

" I know you will.. I love you," she whispered simply, her voice almost not heard over the pounding of his heart.

" Wha- I.. What?" his head was spinning and he didn't know what to make of her words.

" I love you.." she answered, confident with her new admission. " I don't know how you-"

" I love you too," he answered, mixed emotions being shown through the tears forming in his eyes. Why did she have to tell him this now? " God, I love you too.." he whispered, leaning in to kiss her lightly, but she pulled back fast.

" I'm sick, Tommy... you'll catch all my germs," she giggled, but he could tell she was uncomfortable. Even her lips were burning.. Or was that his imagination? He didn't know anymore. Stress was building on him, he didn't know what to do to help.

He looked at her, laying on her side to face him, her bluish-grey eyes only slightly showing through her half parted eyelids. Her breathing was slow, normal, but at the same time, different and somewhat heavy. Her cheeks were flushed, and sweat was forming at her forehead. He brushed the hair out of her face, again blowing lightly on her forehead; he watched as her head moved slightly against his hand and her eyes fluttered shut. Looking up, he spotted the line markings on the cave, marks that he had started his first day here. Each line indicated one day, and he quickly counted them. Thirty-nine. Today was their 40th day. He thought again back to that first day, and how much had changed since then. Was it possible to be so in love after only forty days? He looked back at Jude, and his question seemed stupid. Yes. It was possible, she made it possible. And once again, his brain went on overload, wondering how to cure this sickness. Was it just a cold ? Could it go away on its own? And if it did, what about next time, when it was something worse? They couldn't stay here forever. It was finally hitting him, and he realized that throughout the recent weeks, while him and Jude WERE getting along, he had wished they could. Because once they got back, nothing would be the same. Society wouldn't care that they were in love; the public would just see Little Tommy Q with a sixteen year old, who he'd spent the last month alone with. Then they'd realize he was her boss, and the press would have a no holds barred field day. He groaned at the idea.

Kissing her forehead once more, he again left her side, and walked near the shore. He pulled his phone out once again, trying and praying desperately that it would work. It didn't.

_**FLASHBACK : **_

" _Somethin' wrong?" _

" _Besides the fact that we're stranded who knows where, with no food, water, or connection to the outside world? Nah, everything else is just peachy."_

_He just stared at her, not sure what to make of a response like that. _

" _I'm kidding... I have this thing against sharing drinks.. I don't like germs... but it looks like I'll have to get used to 'em out here, huh?" _

" _Looks that way... Uh, I'm guessing your phone doesn't work..." he said, motioning to the phone beside her._

_She gave him an incredulous look, and he just shrugged. " When ya get home, you should get a better model... there are plans for when you're in places like this.." _

" _Yeah, cause that's the first thing I'll wanna do... I'll make a 'note to self', thanks..." she retorted. _

" _It was just a suggestion..."_

" _Well, I don't suppose** your **phone is working..."_

" _It **would** but it's in the plane."_

" _Well, what a help that is..."_

" _Yours isn't helping either.."_

_**END FLASHBACK**_

He didn't have time to even chuckle at the banter that had went on between them. Damn, she was something else. How things had changed... but at the same time, they were exactly the same. She was still worried about germs, and she was still spunky, but he realized she was right. His phone wasn't helping. But maybe... maybe two broken phones made one good one?

Rushing back to her, he felt almost guilty shaking her awake, but he realized it was taking longer than usual. Maybe she was getting better, he hoped, thankful her previous sleeping habits were returning. Soon enough, though, her eyes opened, and she looked at him confused. " What is it?" she mumbled.

" Your phone.. Where'd you put your cell phone?"

" What? I haven't seen it since the day we got here, Tom. It doesn't work.. Are you coming down with something too?" she noticed his rushed breathing, but he shook his head, telling her to go back to sleep before rushing out again.

Thinking quickly, he turned and walked at a fast pace to where he and Jude had first spoken. There, buried only by a little bit of sand near a large boulder was Jude's phone, exactly as she had thrown it over a month ago.

Picking it up, he sighed realizing it was the same model as his own. Flipping it open, he realized it too had been turned off, but when he pressed it on, he realized she had a full battery. He was so relieved that he stood there and just laughed at the irony of it all; she didn't have a worldwide plan, and he didn't have batteries, and just as he suspected, the two unusable phones could be made into one that was. Dialing a number, he nearly cried in happiness when he heard the ringing, and the voice of someone picking up..

* * *

" Jude... Jude, wake up.." he shook her hard for the second time that day. 

" You're gonna have to stop doin' that.." she groaned, turning to face him. " What now?"

" We're saved Jude... we're leaving. How are you feeling? Are you okay? Do you need anything? Ill get all of your stuff together... you just keep resting.." he rambled, his excitement soon faded though, at the blank expression on her face.

" We're leaving? How... wh- when? What do you mean? How?" her cheeks were still flushed and she spoke slowly, almost carefully.

"Jude, do you remember when we first got here? That first day.." her expression warmed as the memory came back to her, and a small, sheepish smile danced across her lips as she nodded.

" Your phone didn't work.. But mine was on the plane. Remember?" Again she nodded, and he continued, his excitement reforming, " I went and got it Jude... I don't want you here sick, so I went and got it, and at first the phone didn't even work. I didn't have batteries, but you did... and I took yours, and that was it.. We're rescued..why aren't you happy, girl, what's wrong?"

" I AM happy, I'm just a little tired, and .. Confused? We were here so long... and now, just like that... it's done. Why didn't I think of your phone?"

" We both forgot it, I guess.. It doesn't matter though. We have it now, and we can get you to a doctor, you can go home.."

" Where will you go?" she whispered, again getting tired. The news of everything was taking a toll on her already weak body, and she laid in Tommy's lap.

" I guess.. I guess I'll go home too.." She just nodded, while he ran his hands lightly through her hair, thinking about what being rescued meant.

" I won't be far though, Jude.. I mean, you'll be with the label, and as soon as you wanna get started.. I mean, you can wait as long as you want, but eventually, we'll be working side by side..."

" Yeah.. Side by side.." he barely heard her, but saw her lips moving slightly, almost trembling. Not daring to look in his eyes, or even at his face, she mumbled only slightly louder, " Everything will work out, right?"

And again, repeating a simple phrase that already would never be the same to her, he said, " Everything will be fine."

Silence invaded the small area, and Jude noticed her headache was gone. She was still cold, and burning, but free of the pain of her head was a comfort, and she could almost feel herself getting better already.

" Tommy, what if-"

" Jude, no what ifs, I promise everything's fine, it's all fate, don't forget that."

About to give him a piece of her mind about 'fate', she stopped, hearing a low rumbling noise. " What was that?" she asked, but as soon as she spoke it was louder, followed by a flash of lightning and an immediate downpour.

Tommy groaned loudly, muttering choice words under his breath only to apologize for them as soon as they left his mouth.

" It's just a storm, it'll pass..." Jude reassured him, not sure why he was so mad.

" Helicopters can't fly in weather like this.. They'll probably have to wait to come.."

" That's fine, Tommy, as long as they're coming at all.."

" You're gonna get sicker. Here, get away from the opening, if you get wet at all, that won't help..."

" I'm fine, I'm as far back as I can go.." she insisted, " I already feel better anyway.."

But that wasn't good enough for him, " Here then, I'll move, and you scoot back farther.. You're still hot, do you need a rag ? How bout some more aspirin? Cover up too.."

He was fussing over her, telling her to lie back down, switch positions, everything he could think of to make her more comfortable, and as grateful as she was, she didn't want him worrying. It was true she already felt a lot better than before, even if her fever still was there.

" No more rags, I just took aspirin, and I'm burning under all of these clothes..."

" Good, you'll sweat the fever away.." he said, finally satisfied as he laid next to her.

" Sweat it away? That's gross.." she said, scrunching her nose.

" My grandma used to tell me it was the fastest way to get better.. And she's never wrong.."

" Then I guess I'll take your word for it.." she laughed, leaning against him as he finally fell into a much needed sleep.

It was nearly morning before he woke again, finding Jude nearly on top of him. A smile was automatically brought to his face, and even the continuing sound of rain didn't waver it. He watched as she nestled herself closer to him, noticing her cheeks weren't nearly as flushed as before, but she was still pale, and he could feel a slight fever. Deciding there was nothing he could do for her, or outside in this weather, he continued to watch her sleep, thinking about what they had in store for them.

Jude woke to the sound of birds chirping, the sun surprisingly shining into the mouth of their cave. She yawned and stretched a little, then turned to look at Tommy who had fallen asleep watching her. An immediate smile was brought to her face as she looked over him. How they had gotten this far together was beyond her, and how she managed to fall in love was even more shocking. She thought again about their time here, and all he had done for her, not only when she started feeling sick, but from the beginning. From the help he always offered, to the record deal he was fixing for her, there was so much he'd done just to make sure she was happy. And not only to physical things, he managed to open her up, and most importantly he made this experience worth living through. Sighing, she wondered where they'd be a week from now, or a month. Would things follow through? And then she remembered his words, and how he'd never steered her wrong before.. Yeah, things would be alright.

Knocked out of his sleep by a loud humming noise, Tommy looked around. Jude was also looking around, confused, but assumed it was another storm starting. Tommy however knew better. Taking Jude's hand, he pulled her out of the cave with him and pointed up. Sure enough, a helicopter was flying over head, and Jude's heart flew into her throat at the sight of it. _This is it. _She thought, not sure whether she was happy or sad. Tommy squeezed her hand, causing her to look up at him, and with one look into his eyes she knew he was feeling just as confused. He offered her a sincere smile though, and she couldn't help but give him one in return, blinking back the tears. They stood back as the helicopter landed a little bit away from them, a man near his fifties walking out to greet them.

" You the on'y two here?" his voice was rough, and the sound made Judes ear drums pound. It'd been so long since she heard anyone's voice but hers and Tommy's. Tommy nodded, and the man spoke again.

" Well, you can get in, 'less you're plannin' on bringin' anything along witchas.." he looked around the camp, nodding his head, looking somewhat impressed. Tommy went to get their bags, but Jude wouldn't give up his hand, and went with him, while the man continued to explore. They gathered their stuff and went over to the man, who was now kicking the logs in the fire pit.

" Oh, ready then? Okay.." he led the way back to the helicopter, "Impressive little camp you made here... Don't know if I coulda managed for so long.."

Jude just nodded, taking one last glance at what came to be their home for more than a month. Tommy however replied, " It wasn't all bad..." eliciting a smile from Jude's otherwise sad stricken face. The man noticed the tight hold on each other and nodded, opening the door to the back of the chopper. Motioning them to get in, Tommy threw their stuff in the back, and helped Jude up before looking back once again. Sighing, he stepped up, sitting next to Jude and shutting the door. She rested her head against his shoulder as the engine started, and sniffled, refusing to cry.

" You feel okay, girl?"

" Yeah, I'm good.. I just can't believe it's over.. You would think I'd be happy to go home..."

" Yeah, it's a little weird, but I know how you feel.."

" I still can't believe it happened at all... What are the chances?" she whispered, a single tear sliding down her once again flushed cheek.

" I told you this was all fate. Don't you listen?" he asked jokingly as the helicopter rose. He wiped the tear gently with his thumb, and motioned for Jude to look out the window. They watched as they flew away from their camp, and back home.

" Yeah.. I believed you" she mumbled, "... I knew it was fate too.. It's just..."

" Just what?"

" I don't know really..." she answered simply, telling the truth. She really didn't know what she thought of it all; truth was she had mixed emotions. Thinking about it, she smiled, lightly kissing his lips. Pulling back, she looked directly into his eyes, and her smile almost met the size of his, " I just didn't think we'd survive it."

**THE END !

* * *

So that's it. I'm actually not that fond of the ending, but please please please let me know what you thought, it'd be much appreciated. I'm hoping to start another fic soon, I just have to make some time and get my ideas together. So look out for that... or maybe a possible sequel? Someone suggested it, and I'm always open to suggestions! **

Thanks again to everyone who's reviewed or PMed me or even just read the story.

-Ashley

So that's it. I'm actually not that fond of the ending, but please please please let me know what you thought, it'd be much appreciated. I'm hoping to start another fic soon, I just have to make some time and get my ideas together. So look out for that... or maybe a possible sequel? Someone suggested it, and I'm always open to suggestions! 


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